


Terror and Tears

by Sigrid20002



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Torture, Flirting, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mentions of Forced Prostitution, Non-Sexual Slavery, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Roronoa Zoro, Protective Vinsmoke Sanji, Royal!Sanji, Sanji Is Not A Vinsmoke, Sanji is a Gentleman, Sexual Tension, Slave!Zoro, Vinsmoke Family - Freeform, maybe a little pervert for Zoro, not a pervert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:55:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 37,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23841859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sigrid20002/pseuds/Sigrid20002
Summary: Roronoa Zoro. Just a small boy, trying to do the right thing and taking care of his sister. It's just bad luck, that everything seems to work against him. Except for one other boy. A Royal nevertheless.At first Zoro is suspicious. The Vinsmoke are taking advantage of the poor people in this country, so why would this Vinsmoke want to help? But soon Zoro discovers a shocking truth...Many years later Sanji doesn't expect to meet the boy - that grew into a quite handsome man - again. It's just bad luck, that this man is supposed to be his slave now.And little does one know of the horrible past, the other had to survive.
Relationships: Roronoa Zoro/Vinsmoke Sanji
Comments: 62
Kudos: 236





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I thought it's time to publish something again... 
> 
> Tags are to be updated, since I don't know exactly how the story will play out and my brain keeps adding stuff that wasn't planned while writing

The kid breathes heavily, closing his eyes and trying to catch his breath for a moment. He can still hear the dogs bark and the men shout, while he is pressing something against his chest as if his life is depending on it. It is wrapped in ragged cloths. The kid itself is dressed in a similar way. Dirty and ripped clothes barely hide the small bony figure. His knees are hurt and bleeding, but he doesn't really pay attention to that.

He is leaning against a stone wall hidden behind a carriage. He doesn't know where exactly he is, he's just kept running, but when he looks around now, he realises he is leaning against the castle walls. Oh no, he shouldn't be here. It is dangerous to be this close to the royals, there are guards everywhere!

But before he can really think of a plan to run back to his home, he hears the dogs bark again and it's much closer now. He nearly jumps out of his skin and turns around as fast as he can. He just keeps running along the wall, squeezing through tight spaces the adults can not follow.

His chest hurts and his throat is burning, but he cannot stop. If he does and he gets captured, they will cut off his hand. And even worse... they will take back the medicine.

He can still hear the men following him and he runs even faster. But he can't keep this up and the dogs will find him eventually and tear him apart.

Suddenly his foot gets caught on a vine, growing next to the wall and all the way up. He stumbles and falls onto his knees, tearing the vine from the wall with him. He whines silently and tears well up in his eyes. It hurts, but there is no time to cry. He has to escape somehow! He slowly gets up on his feet again, ignoring his freshly bleeding knee.

That is when he can see a small hole on the bottom of the stone wall and his eyes widen in surprise. It has been hidden by the vines growing there earlier.

He flinches when he hears the dogs coming closer again and his decision is quickly made as he gets on his knees again and crawls through the hole into the royal garden, even though his knees already hurt. Still he presses the medicine tightly against his chest. It is his treasure, he can't loose it.

On the other side he quickly stands up and keeps running on the other side of the wall, searching for a good hiding place to wait until everything calms down again.

He sees a perfectly square hedge, probably a maze or something. Maybe he can hide in there! They would need longer to find him if they can't even orientate themselves.

But the boy freezes when he hears some voices from the other side of the hedge.

"I told you a thousand times already!" It is a girl. She must be pretty young, the boy guesses. "You have to follow father's orders."

"I... I am trying!" Another voice, this time from a boy. It sounds shaky as if he would start crying any moment now. "B-but.. I'm just not... strong enough.."

The girl sighs. "That's exactly why our brothers continue teasing you!" The boy doesn't answer this time.

He knows he shouldn't just stand there. Instead he should move on, find another place to hide, but... something is keeping him there. He doesn't know what, maybe it was curiosity. Just who was behind that hedge?

"There he is!" The boy jolts when he hears the voice behind him. Shocked he looks back just to see guards running his way, armed with spears and swords. They found him!

The boy starts running again and vanishes through the hedge. He hears the other kids gasping and turns his head.

The girl has pink hair, similar to his own sister. She stares at him with wide eyes and he notices the weird curled eyebrow.

The boy is blonde, looking like he has been in a pretty bad fight with his bruises and other injuries. It looks like the girl treated him though. He has bandages on his arms and legs and a patch on his cheek. He has the same weird eyebrow and he stares at him in surprise and shock as well.

They are Vinsmokes! They are part of the royal family!

But he soon realises, he has no time to care about that, so he runs further. He has to loose these guards somehow!

He runs through another hole in the hedge and looks around in confusion. This is indeed a maze and he has no idea how to get out of here.

He keeps running away from the dogs, but he can't find an exit that way. More than once he is standing infront of a dead end and he curses, turning around frantically and searching for another way.

"Oi, Mosshead!" The boy flinches at the voice next to him and quickly turns around, but he is surprised to see the other boy standing near the hedge. Mosshead? That insult irritates him for a moment. "Follow me!"

Before he can comprehend what is happening, the blonde boy suddenly grabs his hand and drags him with him.

"Let me go!" he shouts and tries to free himself. The other turns around quickly, pressing a hand over his mouth.

"Shhhh! You don't want them to find you, do you? I'll help you, I know a secret way out of here!" the blonde explains and the other just stares at him in surprise. He wants to... help?

But soon the blonde is dragging him through the maze again, careful as not to be trapped by the guards. He seems to know exactly where to go and how to hide here and soon they arrive at a hole in the hedge, like a second exit just for boys like them.

They crawl out of there, the blonde first then he reaches for the other boy to help him up. But he slaps the hand away, glaring at the Vinsmoke.

"Don't touch me!" he hisses, clearly catching the royal boy off guard. "I don't want anything to do with you!"

The blonde bites his lip, but then he shakes his head. "That's fine, you just have to follow me!"

"Why should I trust you?"

"Because... because.. you don't want to get caught and I know a way for you to escape! You can try on your own if you'd like, but... I want to help," he repeats his words from earlier and the greenhaired boy swallows hard. But then he nods sharply. He has no choice than to trust that royal for now.

The blonde starts running again and the other boy quickly follows him. He can still hear the guards shouting, but the Vinsmoke seems to know exactly how to avoid them.

They are back at the stone wall when he suddenly stops and crouches down again. He grabs parts of the stone wall and pulls out a whole bunch of bricks, so another hole appears.

"They won't notice this one," the boy says. "So they will walk up and down the wall for a while."

It is really weird that the royal palace has so many leaks and holes everywhere. He always thought the palace and its ground is almost impossible to get to for a commoner like him but if he thinks about it, it has been pretty easy.

"I will put back the bricks, so they won't notice," the blonde continues and looks at the other. "What's your name?"

The greenhaired boy is surprised by that question but he scowls and crosses his arms. "Why should I tell you?!"

But the blonde doesn't seem to mind his rude response, he just smiles at him. "Then I will just call you Marimo. My name is Sanji."

"Don't call me that!", the greenhaired boy complains and scoffs. "That's not my name."

Sanji looks like he wants to say something, but then he can hear the guards coming closer, so he pushes the other boy towards the hole in the wall and urges him to go.

"Hurry! Oh, and don't loose this." He holds up a phial filled with a transparent fluid that dropped to the floor earlier when the other stopped at the wall. His eyes go wide and he grabs it quickly, wrapping it in the cloth again. He doesn't thank the Vinsmoke, instead he squeezes through the hole again. As soon as he is through, Sanji starts moving the bricks again and closes the hole from the other side.

For a moment the greenhaired boy still stands there, staring at the wall and trying to figure out why a royal would help him escape when he invaded their grounds.

"Prince Sanji," he hears one of the guards from the other side talking. "Why are you outside? Shouldn't you be in the palace?"

"I... I wanted to take a walk," the prince responds.

"You have to be careful, there is a dirty thief around here! You better get inside again, sire," the guard warns and the boy on the other side almost expects the royal to give Zoro away and tell the guard everything, but.. he doesn't.

"Okay! I hope he doesn't escape you," the blonde says and walks back to the palace now, while the greenhaired boy still stares at the wall. But then he pulls himself together and gets away as well. He has to get home as fast as he can. His sister needs the medicine.


	2. Chapter 2

It's been a few weeks since the greenhaired boy invaded the royal grounds after he stole some medicine, and escaped somehow. They repaired the hole in the wall he came through and even fixed the hole in the hedge, but they didn't find the other one, where he escaped. Sanji checked.

He is glad the boy escaped and he hopes he is safe now and doesn't get himself in trouble again. His father had been furious at first, but after weeks he finally forgot about it. At least that's what Sanji hopes.

It was sunny again today, so Sanji was outside, sitting by the apple trees and reading a book. His favourite book. It mentions something that is called the 'All Blue' and Sanji is fascinated by it. One big sea where every fish and every coral are living together. It must be beautiful, far better than the aquarium his father has in his study room.

It isn't the only story in the book, but it was Sanji's favourite one. He could talk about it for hours and he would... If it weren't for his brothers.

Sanji really believes that this sea is real. He wishes it to be. But his brothers make fun of him for that. They tell him that it's a stupid story and he is an idiot for believing fairy tales like that.

His brothers hurt him too. Because he is too weak to defend himself, they kick and punch him until everything hurts and he is just a sobbing mess. There is nothing he can do, they are way stronger than him.

But that is okay. He can take that, he is used to it by now. What really hurts is the fact that they say the All Blue isn't real. He doesn't want to believe that, he wants to believe that something beautiful like that exists in this world.

His mom told him about that sea too. It has to be real, when even his mom said he would find it someday, when he escapes this place. His mom believed it, so Sanji does as well. For himself, but also for her. He wants to find it for her too. Maybe she would see it, wherever she is now.

Sanji is interrupted in his reading by a sudden crack like the sound of a branch breaking. First it is just a silent crack, but suddenly there is a louder one and someone lets out a shocked scream. Sanji flinches as someone falls out of the tree on the ground next to him.

His eyes widen. The green hair is remarkable and hard to forget. "Marimo?" he asks, since he doesn't know the boy's real name.

The boy groans, but shoots up as soon as he hears the voice. He looks like a startled deer and Sanji has to giggle at that thought.

"What are you doing here?" he asks soon after though. He didn't expect to ever see that boy again! But as his gaze drops to the basket next to him and the apples that rolled out, he realises what he is doing. "You're stealing again!"

"Shut up!", the other boy hisses and stands up quickly. "You have so many apples, why shouldn't I get some?! They get bad before you eat them anyway, because you don't even need them!"

Sanji stares at him in surprise and doesn't say anything. He is right anyway. Sanji sees a lot of bad apples lying around in fall that could have been used and eaten earlier in the year.

The boy kneels down next to the basket and starts to collect the apples again.

"Are you poor?" Sanji asks out of curiosity and the boy jolts again, but then he looks at Sanji with sharp eyes.

"No!" he yells, but then he seems to hesitate. "When does someone count as poor anyway..."

"Well, if you can't pay for food and have to steal it, then you're poor," Sanji answers, but it just seems to make the boy more angry.

"Just stup up! Don't make fun of me, just because you have money and I don't! I don't need money, it just makes you spoiled and cruel! It makes you a bad person!"

Sanji is surprised again, then he frowns. "It does?"

"Yes! That's why I hate all you royals! You just care about yourself and that you are living wealthy, but you don't do anything for those, who need it! You just watch as people starve and die of sickness!"

Sanji is shocked by those words. He doesn't watch people die...! He doesn't want to watch people die!

"No, that's not true!" He shakes his head. "I.. I don't.."

"There are thousands of people starving out there!" the greenhaired boy yells again. "And you are doing nothing! My sister is dying because she needs medicine but we don't have the money to buy it for her... And no one is helping her, you royals don't even care!"

He doesn't seem to notice the impact his words have on the blonde. Sanji stares at the other boy, shocked and with tears and his eyes. He... he does care, but what is he supposed to do...? He can't even help himself.

The greenhaired boy continues to collect the apples as suddenly someone steps up to him. Sanji didn't notice that they weren't alone, but his eyes widen again when he sees the figure next to the boy. He wants to yell a warning, but he is too late, because his father already grabs the child by his collar, pulling him up. The greenhaired boy yelps and struggles in his grip. The basket falls back on the ground again.

"NO! Let me GO!" the boy screams and thrashes around in Judge's grip, but he can't free himself.

"What do we have here...? A little thief. Weren't you the one causing the ruckus some weeks ago? How nice of you to return by yourself." Judge looked over the boy and scoffed. "A rat like you caused all of my guards such problems? Pathetic..."

"Father..." Sanji flinches when Judge turns his gaze towards him. But still he gathers all the courage he can bring up and asks: "Please, let him go again.. He just wanted some apples, we don't need them anyway...!"

Judge stares at his son with cold eyes and Sanji gulps, clearly nervous. "Do you feel bad for this child?" his father asks and Sanji feels like he can't answer this, so he says nothing. "Do you feel mercy for this thief? Do you think we can just let him go? And then what? We let everyone in and just let them do however they please?!"

"N-no, but-..." Sanji starts again, but before he can finish his sentence something hard hit his stomach and send him flying. He hits the ground hard and gasped for air, while the boy in Judge's grip freezes for a moment, shocked by what he sees. Isn't that his son..? How could he kick his own son like that? Even after he tried to defend him...

"Don't talk back to me, Sanji," Judge orders coldly. "It's disgraceful for a royal to have mercy for mere commoners like that. He is a criminal, no matter how old he is, and he has to face his punishment... And everyone knows a thief looses his hand."

"NO!" The boy starts struggling again and tries to kick Judge. "I can't loose my hand!! My sister needs me!"

Judge growls when the child actually manages to hit him in the chin and he lets go of him for a moment. The child drops to the ground and quickly gathers himself to come back to his feet again. But when he wants to escape the King, Judge grabs him by the hair and pulls him back forcefully. The kid screams feeling the painful tug on his hair, when he is dragged back and raised from the ground once again. Then Judge suddenly hurls him through the air and his back hits the trunk of one of the trees hard. For a moment he blacks out from the pain.

Judge looks down on him with cold eyes and takes a step, when suddenly something wraps around his leg. Sanji grabbed a hold of it and tries to hold onto him to keep him from coming closer to that greenhaired boy.

Judge's face turns into a scowl and he looks down at his son in disgust. "Sanji, what do you think are you doing?!" he hisses. "Let go of me!"

"No!" He holds on even tighter now and the other boy comes back to it now, blinking slowly. He needs some time to realise what is happening right now. "Please! Don't harm him!" Sanji pleads but it just makes his father more furious.

"You are a disappointment, Sanji!" He raises his foot effortless and kicks the blonde a second time, sending him flying back. But this time he is not finished with him and a second kick follows shortly after, leaving Sanji dazed and bleeding. "I can't believe something like you is my son! You disgust me.. You are a failure! I should just get rid off you!"

He breathes heavily, still furious, when he turns around to the other kid.

But the greenhaired boy is already gone.

Judge lets out a frustrated growl and grabs Sanji to drag him off the floor. He isn't even moving now. "You will pay for this, Sanji. Kindness won't buy you anything.."

The other kid hides behind the castle's wall. He escaped through the same way as last time, but he is still close enough to hear Judge. He presses his hand over his mouth to muffle his heavy breathing and sobs, that threaten to escape him. This Vinsmoke boy saved him... He protected him, even after what Zoro has said to him... All the things he accused him of, even though Sanji was just a kid like him.

He can hear Judge leave, probably with Sanji and the greenhaired boy slides down the wall, curling himself into a ball. That isn't fair...! He should have helped him. Instead he just took of, he ran away.. Like a coward.


	3. Chapter 3

Sanji stares at the ground, his legs pulled close to his body. He rests his chin on his knees, but it hurts after a while, so he raises his head again and stares at the ceiling instead. He had to keep himself from crying the past hours again. He cried himself to sleep yesterday as well and he feels like he has no liquid left in his body, even though they brought him food and water earlier, but he has no energy to get up and get it.

He doesn't know how to eat or drink with this thing on his head anyway... It's heavy and hurts and he can't even really lie down. He hates it, but it was his punishment. His punishment for existing, for feeling empathy unlike his brothers, who feel nothing at all. And his father wishs he would be the same. Ruthless and mercyless.

Sanji can feel tears well up in his eyes again. Was it his fault? Did he really do something wrong? He just wanted to help... And now he is locked in here and he doesn't know when his father will let him out again. The thought of spending the rest of his life in here... He shivers. It is really scary. 

A sob escapes him and he hugs his legs once again.

But then a voice comes through to him: "Oi, Curlybrow.." His head shoots up and he looks at the window above him with wide eyes. He recognizes the voice!

"Marimo...?" he whispers and gets up slowly. The mosshead is kneeling infront of the bars. They are up at the ceiling, because the room Sanji is in, is in the basement.

The other kid stares at him with worried and guilty look on his face. "Are you okay?" he asks and Sanji is too stunned to answer for a moment. But then he starts to get hectic.

"What are you doing here?! You shouldn't come back, hurry and go!" he whispers alarmed. "They can't see you!"

But the boy doesn't move from the bars. "Zoro," he says instead and again Sanji goes quiet.

"What...?"

"My name... It's Zoro," he introduces himself again. "You asked about it yesterday."

"But.." Sanji doesn't know what to say. "You... you should go home... you shouldn't be here...!"

"I'm sorry." Zoro doesn't seem to listen to Sanji, because he is ignoring his warning and sits down, making it clear he doesn't intend to leave again. Not yet anyway. "Because of what I said to you yesterday and that I just ran away."

"No, I... I wanted you to run.." Sanji responds, still surprised and amazed, but he sits down at his bed again as well. He can't force Zoro to leave, so he might as well talk to him.

"So, what are you doing here?" Sanji asks again and Zoro lowers his head.

"I... I wanted to check on you. Since it's my fault your dad hit you. Are you locked in there because of me too?" he asks, clearly ashamed, but Sanji shakes his head and wraps his arms around his knees again.

"No, it's because... I'm a failure. Because I am weak and can't defend myself. That's why... I don't deserve to be outside..."

"What?!" Zoro looks at him clearly in shock and disbelief. "Don't say that! That's not true! Freedom is not something you do or do not deserve! You are born free. Freedom is something that can be taken from you, but... that doesn't mean you don't deserve it! You just have to take it back!"

Sanji looks at him surprised and with wide eyes. Again for the third time in this short period, he doesn’t know what to answer. Zoro keeps surprising him with his words and with his actions, even though he thought the other boy couldn’t even stand a royal like him.

“I... I don’t think I can..” Sanji answers though, quietly like he is to ashamed to speak up. “I am too weak.. I can’t fight against my brothers. I can’t win.”

“You can. And you’re not alone!” Zoro smiles and Sanji thinks it’s one of the beautiful things he ever saw. The other boy’s smile is so honest, so convincing and comforting.. It is honestly surprising, since the boy has been scowling the most of the time before. “I will help you, okay? I will visit you every day and we will figure a way out for you to get out of there.”

Sanji can’t believe what he is hearing. He doesn’t get it. Why would Zoro risk his life after he has made clear that he despises all royals? Why would he risk his life, even after he saw how weak and... pathetic Sanji is?

But hope starts to rise within Sanji. Hope of getting out of here, maybe even being able to leave his family behind. Maybe he could really finally be free and... live his own life without these restrictions and expectations.

And this hope is what keeps him from asking these question, what lets him swallow all his selfdoubt and just nod. “O-okay...” Even though he doesn’t want Zoro to endanger himself with this, he can’t help but hang onto this slim silver lining that Zoro showed him.

“I have to go back to my sister for now,” Zoro says, but he shows Sanji another comforting smile. “But I will come back tomorrow! And then we will plan your escape! I won’t leave you here, I promise.”

Sanji just nods again, because he feels like crying again and he doesn’t want to cry infront of Zoro when the other boy endured all the pain and fear without showing tears. He wants to be as strong as Zoro, so he swallows the tears and looks up to him fiercely. 

“I will wait for you!” he says and nods bravely. He is not alone anymore, Zoro will help him.. He promised.

The greenhaired boy grins and nods as well, before he gets on his feet now. “See you tomorrow, Curlybrow.”

“Oi, my name is Sanji!” the royal calls out to him, but the other boy already vanished. Sanji smiles to himself and suddenly everything doesn’t look as dark anymore as it did before. He might have actually even made a friend.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zoro comes home.. And brings unwanted company

Zoro enters the small cabin and looks around. Seems like Kuina isn’t up, but that would have been surprising anyway. He steps into her room and as expected she is lying in her bed with closed eyes. She sleeps a lot lately and Zoro can just hope that this is an improvement to her usual state. Her fever went down at least after he gave her the medicine he stole. But now he doesn’t have any more and he might have to risk it again, even though last time almost ended really badly.

“Zoro...?” The greenhaired boy looks up in surprise when he hears his sister’s voice. She opened her eyes and looks at him now. She still seems tired and exhausted. He steps close and takes her hand, pressing it slightly, while kneeling next to her bed.

“Kuina! How are you feeling?” he asks her and she forces a smile onto her lips.

“I feel a lot better since you gave me that medicine. Don’t worry too much about me, okay Zoro?”

He knows why she tells him that. She feels bad, because she is the older sister. She is supposed to take care of HIM, not the other way around. And even if Zoro tells her he doesn’t mind, she still feels bad. That’s why he hasn’t told her that the medicine is stolen. And that he ran into trouble when getting the medicine.

She has asked about his bruises but he pretended like they were from getting into trouble with other kids in the neighborhood. She scolds him for that, because that happens a lot too, but it is never really serious, since they are all kids.

“Where were you today?” Kuina asks and a smile appears on Zoro’s face. Finally he can tell her good news for real.

“I think... I think I’ve made a friend today!” He grins a little and Kuina looks surprised at first, before she smiles as well.

“That’s great news, I’m happy for you! Who is it?”

Zoro is not entirely sure how much he can tell without making his sister suspicious. He can’t tell her that his new friend is a royal and they got to know each other when Zoro sneaked into the royal garden.

“He is not from around here, his family is more wealthy, but... he is really nice,” Zoro explains and rubs his neck. Kuina is surprised again, because she knows how much Zoro despises wealthy people. They always look down on people like Zoro and Kuina and even the kids think they are better than them.

She knows he hates wealthy people, because they never help out. They care more about themselves than about anyone else and they would watch them starve in the streets without thinking twice. They have ‘privilege’ after all.

Kuina is old enough to know that there still are good people out there, even wealthy one’s. She doesn’t hate the wealthy, she hates the selfish people, but she hasn’t been able to get through Zoro in explaining that difference to him. Yet. But now it seems like it might be possible.

“Tell me more about him,” Kuina asks her brother with a smile. “Maybe you can ask him to come over some time.”

Zoro frowns and bites his lip, before he replies: “I don’t think his dad would allow that...” After all Sanji can’t even leave his room right now. “But I think he will be happy to hear that you would invite him!”

He has to tell Sanji that he is welcome at their home as soon as they manage to help him escape! At least Zoro thinks Kuina wouldn’t mind Sanji living here as well. Even though it is already hard just for the two of them. They are lucky to have this cabin from their parents, but food is a whole other issue.

Mostly Zoro accepts some small jobs he can do, like polishing the shoes of wealthier people or doing deliveries for the local shops, but that can do just so much and he is not the only one fighting for these kind of jobs.

Kuina has been helping him when she still has been healthy, but now it is almost impossible for her to even leave her bed.

Zoro flinches, when he hears someone knock on their door harshly. He turns around and frowns. Who could that be? They don’t have any friends that would visit and check up on them.

But when Zoro does not immediately answers the door, they can hear wood cracking as whoever is outside just kicks it open.

Zoro’s eyes widen and he quickly gets onto his feet again. Who is that?! Is someone trying to rob them?

But when the door to Kuina’s room is harshly opened as well, Zoro recognizes them as royal guards. He instantly draws back, but it’s no use, the only way out here is the door and he can’t just leave Kuina...!

“What is going on?” Kuina demands an explanation and tenses visibly. But she as well is just a kid...

The guards completely ignore her and approach Zoro instead. Zoro tries to evade them, but one of the guards catches him by the arm an janks him forward.

“No! Let me go!!” He screams and starts to kick them and fight back. Kuina is clearly shocked and leans forward to grab one of the guards as well.

“Stop, what are you doing?!” she shouts worried, almost terrified. What do they want from her little brother?!

The guard just scoffs and tears his arm away again, before he raises his hand and hits her straight in the face. “Don’t interfere with the law,” he hisses, while Zoro screams her name.

“Don’t hurt her!!” He shouts and desperately tries to get back to Kuina. He has to check on her! He has to make sure she is okay!

But they just drag him farther away from his sister.

They are almost at the door, when Kuina raises her voice again: “No, stop!”

She manages to pull herself up from the bed, even though her whole body is shaking from exertion. Zoro goes pale seeing that. He knows she is in no shape to be standing at all!

Even the guards seem to be frozen by surprise, even they can see how sick she is. Sweat is already forming on her forehead and her breathing is more rapid than it should be. Still she raises her head to stare at the guards who clearly are uncomfortable under her gaze.

“Let go of him!” Kuina demands. “You have no right to take him like that!”

“We do,” one of the guards replies and returns her stare with cold eyes. He is the only one unfazed by her. “He is a filthy thief and he will meet judgement today. Especially since he defied the king personally.”

Disbelief washes over Kuina’s face, but when her gaze falls onto Zoro and she sees his guilty expression, she realises her brother really got himself into trouble this time.

“He is still young! I’m sorry, this is my fault!”

“No!” Zoro violently shakes his head. She shouldn’t try to put this on her now, she is sick! She needs rest! But Kuina doesn’t listen to him, instead she continues: “I should have had an eye on him, so please let me take his punishment!”

She takes a step further towards the guards, forces her feet to move. She has to save Zoro at all cost.

But suddenly she drops to her knees and violent coughing shakes her whole figure. No... nonono, not now! But she can’t stop. The coughing doesn’t stop and she can do nothing as they continue to drag her brother out of the room.

“KUINA!!”

She can taste the blood in her mouth, she feels it in her hand and all of a sudden all strength she had left just leaves her body at once and she tips over to the side. She can still hear Zoro screaming her name terrified. She can’t leave him. She has to help him somehow...!

“No! STOP! You can’t just LEAVE her like this!!” Zoro still tries to kick and punch his way out of this, but the adults are too strong. “Please, HELP her!” He starts begging, because it’s the only thing left to do. He is desperate, he is so afraid to loose her. “PLEASE! She is sick, she will die without help!!”

But the guards don’t react. Instead they drag him over to a carriage and throw him in the back into the cell that is loaded onto it. Before Zoro even gets back up, they lock the door and he can just grab the bars and shake them. “PLEASE!” he is still begging, tears welling up in his eyes.

But they don’t seem to care about his despair or his sister’s sickness. They don’t care that she will DIE if noone helps her.

“Do you think the family of a thief has any right to ask for expensive medical care?” one of the guards asks and scoffs as if the thought alone would be pathetic. Zoro stares at him in disbelief. They will let his sister die because.. because he tried to help her by stealing medicine...?

The carriage starts to drive and the sudden movement lets Zoro loose his balance. He hurts his arm as it hits one of the bars hard and he yelps in surprise and pain, but his mind is filled with thoughts about his sister. She is lying in there and is probably suffocating in her own blood. That’s what the local doctor said when he was kind enough to check on her, even though they have no money. He said that would happen eventually without the medicine.

That’s why Zoro has been stealing it. Because he doesn’t want that to happen to his sister. And still-...

“STOP! We have to go back!!” he starts yelling now, tears streaming down his face and gripping the bars again. “DON’T LEAVE HER!”

He is still screaming even when they have left behind the cabin long ago. Eventually he quiets down to sobs and whimpers, until the carriage suddenly stops and the guards get off again. They left the town and stopped in the middle of the forest, but Zoro can’t bring himself to care about that.

He sank down and leans against the bars livelessly now. He doesn’t move when they lock up the cell, but if they expect him to just let them do whatever, they are wrong.

Suddenly Zoro jumps forward and kicks the guard close to the cell in the chin. He lands on the ground outside the carriage and starts running now. He might still save his sister if he can just get back...

But then sudden pain explodes in Zoro’s shoulder and he screams and drops onto the floor. He feels the blood flowing down his arm and he has to gasp for air. An arrow pierced through his skin twice, since the tip sticks out in the front.

He whimpers again, tears dripping down his face again, while he is trying to get on his feet again, but the pain is bad. It hurts so much when he moves.

Someone grabs his hair and roughly pulls him up again. “We can’t let you escape, can we now? You would be worth more unharmed, but that can’t be helped now.”

Worth more..? Zoro doesn’t understand, what the guy is trying to say, but he seems to have decided something, because he looks back to the others.

“Change of plans. Get the metal, I will do it now. Even if he escapes, there is no chance he can get back then.”

Zoro struggles again, but this time it’s weaker. It hurts so much, why do they do this?!

The man walks over to a tree stump and presses Zoro down on it with the stomach first, so he almost can’t breathe. The man lifts up his shirt to expose his back and even though Zoro has no idea what that man is planning, he keeps struggling and tries to pull back.

Out of the corner of his eyes he can see how one of the other guards gives him a long metal stick. He takes it and speaks some words in a language Zoro doesn’t recognize, but when he sees the man’s eyes glowing in a soft yellow, his eyes widen. That guy is a mage. Or at least he can use a little magic, it might not be much.

His thoughts are interrupted as the man presses the metal against Zoro’s back. Another scream is ripped out of him forcefully as the metal against his skin hisses. Steam rises up and the smell of burned flesh spreads around them, but all Zoro can feel is the burning sensation and pain of a hot iron pressed into his flesh, leaving an ugly red scar.

Even after the man takes away the iron, the pain is still there and Zoro cries and sobs, not even able to move. He doesn’t dare. He feels like his flesh has been ripped from his back and everything is hot and painful.

Why does this happen to him? Why do they do something like this? They seem to have their fun watching him scream and cry in agony, but Zoro cannot understand.

Why did they have to leave Kuina? Why are they this cruel? Kuina didn’t deserve to die.

But slowly Zoro realizes maybe death has been the better option.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait ^^° The chapter was already finished but I tend to forget to publish my chapters regulary xD

Sanji wakes up from a knock on his door. “Your Highness? Your breakfast is ready,” a male voice comes through the door and Sanji groans, but sits up in his bed anyway.

“Come in,” he says a little louder and the door opens. A servant enters the room and brings the tray over to the king-sized bed, before putting it down on the prince’s lap.

“Is there anything you need or miss, Your Highness?” the servant asks like every day. Sanji answers the way he always does and shakes his head.

“No, thank you, this is perfect. Please deliver my compliments to the chef.”

The servant nods and leaves the room, so Sanji can eat in peace. The servants know that Sanji will eat anything they bring him unlike his brothers who never seem satisfied. That’s the reason the servants started gambling to determine who will be allowed to bring the food to Prince Sanji. 

Sanji starts eating and enjoys the peaceful moment he still has. He feels like it will be a lot less peaceful the rest of the day. His breakfast is one of the rare moments he isn’t being bothered by his brothers or his father in any way.

After he finished eating, leaving nothing on his plate, he puts the tray down next to his bed. He would bring it back to the kitchen himself, but Judge would never allow one of his sons to lower himself like that, so he puts it there for one of the servants to take.

One of the things he has accomplished in all these years is the permission to dress himself instead of being dressed by another servant. He always felt uncomfortable that way and since he doesn’t have his own personal servant for around three years now, his father got used to it with time.

After Sanji got dressed, he looks at himself in the mirror for a moment and stops. He didn’t get any sleep last night again, so heavy eyebags appear under his eye. His hair got pretty long again, he could probably tie it to a small bun. He also needs to shave soon again. His goatee gets more and more out of hand.

Reiju used to say his eyes had a much brighter colour, a beautiful sea blue, before he started to grow up, but some day she seemed to realise that it doesn’t help her brother to know that. 

Sanji knows his sister is different. He knows that she cares even if she shouldn’t and definitely isn’t allowed to show it. She proved it in the past, every time she took care of his injuries after his brothers beat him up. 

He can see it in her expression every time their brothers say something to hurt him or to tease him. He wish he could make her stop worrying but it also feels good to know he still isn’t entirely alone in this cold, emotionless castle that they call their home.

He shakes his head and leaves his room. Like every day he is supposed to meet up with his family in the conference room to listen to his father talk about organizational stuff and his plan for the day. If Sanji is lucky, there would just be some training and then he could be free to do whatever he likes. Well... with limitations of course.

But on his way there he suddenly hears quiet sobs and stops in his tracks. He looks around, trying to determine, where it’s coming from, and changes his direction.

It doesn’t take him long to find the crying girl in one of the hallways. He grimaces and curses internally. He knows the girl, she is one of his brothers’ slaves. They all have at least one to take care of their needs at all times.

The girl notices Sanji as he steps closer and she immediately flinches back. “I’m sorry!” she yells as tears stream down her face in horror and distress. Sanji notices how she digs her nails into her arm to calm her down forcefully. She shouldn’t yell at a royal, she knows that.

“I’m... I’m sorry, Your Highness, please... please forgive me...”

Sanji looks at her, clearly concerned and affected by her state. He steps closer to her and she has to force herself not to draw back or flinch again, especially as he touches her chin and raises her head a little to get a better look at her face.

Blood flows down her cheek, it looks like she’s been hit. Since she was Niji’s slave, it was probably one of his rings that cut her cheek like that when he hit her.

“I’m gonna kill him someday...” Sanji mutters under his breath, but the girl’s eyes widen. What is that supposed to mean? “No respect for women, they all need to be taught a lesson,” Sanji continues to curse, before he takes his hand away again and reaches for a napkin he has with him. 

“Here, take it. Try to stop the bleeding, maybe wash it out with some water later if you can spare the time.” It’s all he can do for her, even though he wants to do so much more. Like kick Niji in his smug little face! But his father probably wouldn’t be too fond of that in the end.

The girl looks at Sanji in disbelief and is hesitant to take the napkin, but in the end she does and presses it against her cheek, even though she doesn’t understand, why one of the princes would help her. Was that some kind of sick game, she doesn’t yet understand?

“What’s your name?” the blonde prince asks and she is hesitant again. Noone here cares about her name, Niji asked it only to use it when he whispers dirty things in her ear. She hates that. She feels exposed and... used, when he does that. 

But she has no choice than to tell him. She has to be obedient. Or else she will be punished.

“Perona...”, she whispers after a moment, hoping she hasn’t been too quiet. She learned by now that the Vinsmokes take any opportunity to punish their slaves.

“That’s a nice name,” he tells her with a small smile though and again she is surprised. This has to be some sort of trap... But she doesn’t see it.

“It will get better, I promise,” Sanji says then. “You just have to be patient a little longer. Eventually... Niji will get bored and you can work in the kitchen or somewhere.”

He knows that it sounds bad. He knows it’s not what she deserves, what anyone deserves. But it’s the best hope he can give her right now. 

Sanji isn’t sure if it actually helped her. She just nods without saying anything. She doesn’t trust him and Sanji doesn’t even expect her to. Why should she? Sanji gave her no reason to trust him.

“Try to stay save,” he says, before turning around. He has to hurry to his family now. He will be expected there and his father doesn’t like it when he is late.

He leaves Perona in the hallway, hoping that she would get some peace at first, as long as Niji is with them too, since all his other siblings have to attend this morningly meeting as well.

His brothers are already there surprisingly, since they usually take more time to complain about their food or demand for more or something different, but Sanji arrives late there as well.

He walks over to his chair and sits down as well, aware of the looks his brothers are throwing him. Jugde leaves his late arrival uncommented, instead he begins: “I’ve got news from the border patrol. It looks like Whitebeard is getting nervous and impatient, so everything works according to plan.”

Sanji keeps quiet and doesn’t move a muscle, but his brothers start to grin. Ichiji is skeptical though. 

“Are you sure this will work out? If Whitebeard realises what we are doing, he might start an all-out war against us.”

“That is a risk we have to take,” Judge replies. “Also, I am sure if push comes to shove, we would be able to defeat Whitebeard. He does not have our resources, even when his forces are strong.”

Ichiji seems satisfied with that answer and doesn’t ask further, so Judge continues: “Big Mom also contacted me. She wants to meet and talk, but I feel like she is after our territory.”

“So we just ignore her request?” Yonji asks, but Judge shakes his head. 

“If we ignore it, it’s no difference to declaring a war. We have to keep on her good side for now. But I will handle that, you don’t have to worry about it. As for your tasks today...”

He pauses for a moment, when a servant enters the room and quickly walks up to him to whisper something in his ear. He nods and dismisses the servant again. Then he continues: “It’s perfect timing actually. A carriage full of new slaves just arrived.”

While Sanji has been rather absent earlier, his eyes widen now and he stares at Judge in disbelief. Again?

“But don’t we have enough slaves already?” Sanji asks even though he knows he should just stay silent. “It was you who said we can’t risk disturbances in our home by letting the slaves get too strong in number so they would actually think about an uprising.”

“You’re right, I did,” Jugde agrees and nods towards one of the guards. The guard turns around and opens the door. Sanji frowns, when he sees all of their slaves enter the room, and he bites his lip, when he sees the pink-haired girl Perona stepping in. She looks truly frightened, but at least the cut to her cheek has stopped bleeding. What is Judge planning? Sanji has a bad feeling about this.

After half a dozen slaves have entered the room and formed a row, Judge looks at his sons and speaks up again: “Since we can’t risk having too many slaves at once, you will have to decide, which one to keep.”

Sanji notices his brothers’ smug faces and he feels disgusted by their joy. As if they are kids getting a new toy. This thought is even more disgusting.

“I want a new slave,” Yonji says and scoffs. “Mine is terribly clumsy, it’s really annoying.”

Sanji can see one of the guys flinch, probably the slave Yonji was talking about. Judge nods towards one of the guards again and Sanji expects him to grab the slave and get him out, but instead Sanji has to watch with wide eyes as the guard draws his sword and pierces it through the man from behind. There isn’t even time for Sanji to react or to even realize what is happening, while the other slaves jerked back in terror and Perona even lets out a shocked scream, before she is able to press her hand against her mouth.

His brothers keep quite calm, they don’t even look surprised by that and Sanji can’t understand how they can be so cold. But they’ve been like that since they were little, so Sanji shouldn’t be surprised about that.

Now all of the slaves are shaking, because they know it takes one word and they are all dead. It just depends on how useful or ‘fun’ the Vinsmokes think they are and if they are worth being kept. Sanji grinds his teeth. This is truly fucked up. 

“I’m fine with my slave,” Reiju says, no emotion in her voice or face, but Sanji knows she doesn’t want to see her slave die either. It’s true, she doesn’t care much about the lives of others, but she also doesn’t take a life if she doesn’t have to.

“I don’t need mine any longer,” Niji says at well and Sanji can hear Perona gasping. She stares at Niji in disbelief and terror and tears well up in her eyes again. She looks like she is about to plead for her life, but she doesn’t because she knows it wouldn’t change anything. It would just harden his resolve.

Sanji can see the guard rip his sword out of the body of the male slave again, blood dripping from its tip as he makes his way over to Perona, who is still just shaking and staring at Niji. 

The blonde prince wants to get up, wants to do something against this, but his sister notices the movement and places her hand on his shoulder, pushing him down again. He can’t. It will just get him in trouble. He can’t do anything but watch when the guard swings his sword again.


	6. Chapter 6

The room is silent now, even Sanji’s brothers don’t dare to say a word. But then Judge gets up, breaking the silence: “The new slaves are waiting in the courtyard.”

It’s the cue for them to get up and follow him, but Sanji doesn’t move for a moment. Reiju looks at him concerned and slightly touches his shoulder. He flinches at first, but then looks back at her and realizes, he has to follow them. His feet move on their own accord.

Still a little absent minded he wipes over his cheek and looks down on his hand. It’s blood. Perona’s blood. 

He feels his stomach curl and he gets sick. His family is crazy, killing all these innocent people for nothing. They haven’t even fought back once, they have been obedient all this time they served them, but still it hasn’t been enough to satisfy the Vinsmokes. It hasn’t been enough to save their lives.

“Swallow it,” Reiju whispers to him. Sanji hears his father talking again, but her words are the only ones reaching him. Even if he doesn’t like what she is saying. She tells him to forget about it. It isn’t worth the fight, it isn’t worth the risk.

Sanji doesn’t answer, he wouldn’t know what to say anyway. He knows he has to swallow it. Not only his words but his feelings as well. He has been doing that for years now, finally gaining some of his father’s respect after a while. He isn’t about to loose that again.

Sanji closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Usually things like that can’t get to him anymore, he is used to act cold just like his brothers. But he has made the mistake of getting too attached to someone again, even if he just let his kindness slip out for a moment, when he handed Perona the napkin. That... can’t happen again.

So he just follows his family outside. Similar to before, the new slaves are also lined up in a row, so they can inspect them one by one, but this time the guards forced them to kneel infront of them. Sanji tries not to look at their faces, but it’s not easy. 

Especially after some guy with a black bandana around his head catches his attention.

He is surprisingly good-built for a slave. He doesn’t look malnourished, instead he seems to be quite healthy and fit. Sanji can’t see his face, the slave has his head lowered, but he can see his muscles tense under his shirt. He doesn’t seem like someone easily submitting.

He must be a newly captured slave if he looks like that, otherwise he would look far worse. 

“Sanji,” his father calls out and the blonde raises his head in surprise. Usually he does not get involved with issues like this and there is usually no need for him to. 

His father motions him to come closer and he obeys him. He flinches just a little bit, when Judge puts his hands on his shoulders and turns him around to the slaves. He does not move his hands away, instead he stays behind Sanji and keeps hold of his son.

“Choose one.”

Sanji’s eyes widen as he realizes what is father is trying to say. 

“What? Why?” he hears himself ask, even though he knows he is not supposed to talk back. “I thought we agreed on-”

“We did, but I changed my mind,” his father interrupts him and the look on his face indicates, this is no discussion. It’s an order. “You didn’t have a slave for several years now, I think it’s time for you to get a new one. It’s a sign for your status after all. You shouldn’t leave the castle without one, so I will let you choose at first.”

His brothers don’t seem too fond of that decision, probably because they all laid eyes on a slave already and now Sanji gets to choose one first.

“He is right,” Reiju nods now. “You’ve been without a slave for far too long.”

Sanji knows he doesn’t get to get into an argument over this, so instead he looks at the slaves now. There were four in total. 

Next to the man with the bandana there is a boy, not older than 16. He is shaking violently and he looks like he hasn’t seen a proper meal for weeks now. Sanji is pretty sure, Niji will choose him, since there is no woman in the group this time. If he can’t get a woman to toy with, he likes to break weak boys like that. Usually they die in a span of a few weeks.

Then there is another man, rather strong-looking but with burns and cuts all over his body. He looks like he doesn’t have enough strength to stand much longer, but he still tries to hold out. His hair is white and the look in his eyes is full of resolve.

The last one is a rather small guy again. He looks down on the ground and it seems like he has accepted his fate. He probably has years of ‘training’ to look back to.

Sanji swallows all of his feelings as his gaze returns to the first one again. He has cuts and bruises all over his body. They probably gave him a good beating, before he arrived here. They also took his clothes, he just has a pair of ragged pants to wear, so Sanji can actually see all the old scars covering his body. Especially the one over his chest. The cut must have been deep and badly stitched up.

Maybe Sanji’s first thought was wrong. This guy may not be a new slave. Either that or he fought in a war before.

They did however wrap a bandage sloppily around the guy’s chest, so he probably has a more severe injury, otherwise the hunters wouldn’t have bothered. But they don’t get money, if their prey ends up dying of their wounds too soon.

Suddenly the man looks up and Sanji almost flinches back. His steel-grey eyes pierce through the blonde in barely hidden hatred. It isn’t like anything Sanji has ever experienced before. He is used to stares like that, but this is different. There is no frustration, no desperation in his look. Instead it is cold and almost collected. He looks like he would kill Sanji in an instant without second thought if he wasn’t restrained. 

But this gaze lingers on Sanji just for a second. Almost immediately after that, his eyes widen and he looks more surprised and shocked, the hatred entirely gone as if it has been Sanji’s imagination. It’s like the man sees a Vinsmoke for the first time, as if he didn’t think, they are real. And something else mixes with his disbelief. Was it.. sorrow?

“This one,” Sanji decides finally and nods towards the man. He’s not sure what exactly lets him choose the bandana guy. Maybe because of the intense stare that showed, he still has his pride and he is still fighting. Maybe because there has been something in his look, Sanji still wants to figure out. Maybe just because he has caught Sanji’s attention on the first hand.

Judge follows his gaze, then he nods. 

“Hold on, I wanted that one!” Yonji complains angrily. “Why does Sanji get to choose anyway! He doesn’t even know how to take care or train a slave right anymore! He never really did!”

Sanji clenches his fists and he can feel his anger rising. He turns to his brother and snaps: “You’re awfully greedy, Yonji. This slave is mine, it would be a waste, giving him to you, since you would probably destroy him soon anyway.”

Yonji stares at him with narrowed eyes and curses Sanji, but Jugde interrupts their fight: “Enough! Sanji chooses first, so this slave is indeed his. We will see, if Sanji is handling this well.” He looks over to the guards next to the slave. “Change his chains.”

Sanji watches as they hurry to attach a chain around the men’s neck. He growls at them and even tries to bite one of them like a wild animal, but he can’t do anything, as they continue to secure the chain. Then they remove the chains that connects him to the other slaves, even though they leave the one’s at his hands. 

Sanji doesn’t need another order. He steps up to the man and takes the chain that is connected to the slave’s neck like a leash, then he pulls it, forcing the other to get up hastily, in order not to choke. It’s still rough and it takes some time for him to get on his feet. He coughs, but Sanji is already pulling him further. Another growl escapes the slave, but Sanji ignores it and instead continues to drag him off. 

Judge stops him for a moment though: “Sanji, you know you will have to train him. You took quite the stubborn one, according to the guards.”

Sanji doesn’t look back to his father, instead he just nods.

“That’s fine. He won’t be stubborn for long anymore.” 

He can almost feel Judge smirking. That’s what he wanted to hear from his son.


	7. Chapter 7

The slave follows him with a frown on his face. There is anger in his look again, but far less than before. He seems to be.. confused for the most part. 

Sanji decides to ignore it. It’s not his problem and he has to figure out what to do with this guy now first. He told the guards to take off the handcuffs at least. After all the slave will probably need his hands to work.

He drags the slave by the leash right up to his room and closes the door behind him. When he turns around again to face the slave, he doesn’t expect him to suddenly be so close, so he flinches back as his back hits the door. But the slave moves closer again and slams his arm against the door next to Sanjis head, trapping him between the wood and the man’s muscular body.

“What the hell are you doing?!” the slave hisses. “I’m not a pet!”

For a moment Sanji’s eyes are wide with surprise, but then they narrow again. 

“No, you are a slave,” he replies. The man doesn’t see the kick coming and he is send flying back, when Sanji’s heel connects with his stomach. He gasps for air as he lands hard on his back.

“What...?” A hand on his stomach, the slave sits up again groaning. That kick got him good and took him by surprise. He stares at Sanji as if he is insane, even though he should have expected that kind of treatment with a Vinsmoke. 

Sanji doesn’t care, why the man looks so surprised and kind of hurt. Instead he pushes himself off the door and bends down to grab the end of the leash again. He wraps it around his hand and yanks the man towards himself. The slave almost drops to the floor again, this time face first, but Sanji stops him by blocking his fall with his foot on the slave’s shoulder. The strong pull on the leash forces the man to look up to the Vinsmoke.

“If you think you can do, whatever you want here, I will have to teach you a lesson,” Sanji starts speaking, his voice icecold. “You’re a slave, you don’t have any rights. You are my property. And if you don’t understand that, I have to make you understand.”

The slave stares up to him, as if he’s just realized the situation he was in but still can’t really believe it. It surprises Sanji, because this man does not seem like the naive type of guy. He probably knew what he had coming when the hunters brought him here. 

A shiver runs down Sanjis spine as he realizes that the look on the other’s face has returned. From one moment to the other, his eyes are cold again, pure hatred and disgust visible in his eyes.

“People are not property, even if you try to make them,” the man hisses again. His voice is unsurprisingly deep and in a twisted way of thought, Sanji actually think it’s kind of soothing, even though the tone suggests he could kill with his bare hands and wouldn’t think about it twice.

“Adorable,” Sanji says in a way that reminds him too much of his brothers. “But you should start living in reality, you know? Maybe if you were stronger, you could actually-” Sanji gets interrupted by a deep, feral growl that escapes the man, before he pushes the blonde’s foot back and jumps to his feet. Sanji barely has time to react, as the man throws a punch in his direction. 

The prince manages to dodge the attack, but the slave grabs him now and throws him to the floor, pushing him down with his own weight. The slave is over him and almost lands a punch to his face, but Sanji quickly pulls his head to the side. 

“Don’t you dare say that!” The man growls infuriated and grabs Sanji by the collar now. He’s really angry, but the blonde doesn’t understand, why he doesn’t try to hit him again. Does he think intimidation alone will work on the prince? But Sanji decides to let it play out for a moment.

“Say what?” he asks instead, clearly not worried about the other man over him threatening him.

“I will not be a slave for you or for anyone!” the man replies, suddenly surprisingly calm now. “These chains mean nothing, I will still find a way to get my swords back and then I will cut through all of these Vinsmokes.”

Sanji’s eyes widen for a moment again. He is talking like he doesn’t even realize that the blonde is a Vinsmoke too, even though it’s pretty obvious and there is no way, the guy missed the curly eyebrows or the fact that Judge was his father...!

“You are insane if you think you could beat even one of them..” Sanjis response is dry and even though he is still surprised, this guy is clearly out of his mind. He is naive after all, thinking he could escape all by himself. He doesn’t realize he didn’t include himself as Vinsmoke either. 

But the man doesn’t back down and he doesn’t look worried or intimidated either. Instead he says: “And I’m surprised you never even tried.”

Sanji’s heart skips a beat and now he is clearly shocked. Why...?

Anger and confusion rises in Sanji and he kicks the man again, burying his knee in his stomach, then he rolls them both over and traps the man’s arms between his thighs. The power of his legs actually manages to keep the other in check. But still the slave tries to pierce Sanji with his gaze alone and he doesn’t stop struggling.

“If I were you, I would stop resisting,” Sanji scoffs, clenching his fist. “You will just end up killing yourself, especially with your wounds.”

How does he know...? This man just assumed Sanji isn’t part of the Vinsmokes. Not just that, he also guessed that Sanji would rather fight them than to be part of their world and he accused the blonde for not acting out on his wish. But how...?

The guy still is battered and bruised and it wouldn’t surprise Sanji if he got some nasty internal injuries. Even moving around like that must hurt like hell and still.. he doesn’t want to give in.

Another growl escapes the man’s lips and he still moves around, trying to free his arms, when the door opens and a bunch of guards walk in.

“Your Highness, are you alright?” one of them asks alarmed. “We heard commotion in here and cam to check on you...” Usually the guards know that the princes can take care of themselves, but it’s still their job to make sure, they don’t get injured or even attacked. 

“I’m fine,” Sanji replies, still sitting on the struggling man, while looking back at the guards. He hides all his rising emotion behind his usual mask. Seems like the slave lost some of his energy, but Sanji isn’t surprised. It must take all of his will to even move at this point. 

Sanji gets up now, but when the man tries to pull himself up too, the blonde presses him down to the floor again, his foot on the other guy’s chest. That’s when Sanji notices the blood leaking through the bandage around the man’s chest. Of course, he is still injured and still fights like that. That idiot really tries to get himself killed...

“Bring him to the dungeon. Throw him in a cell and get someone to treat his wound. I don’t want him to die, before I get to use him,” Sanji orders the guards and steps back when they grab the man and pull him up to his feet. He has been really careless attacking Sanji, because now it seems like he can’t even stand on his own.

But when they drag the slave away, Sanji hears him say: “What happened to you...? How could you let them change you this much..?!”

Sanji freezes and stares at the other with widened eyes. That sounds like he knows the prince already and it confuses him even more. Who is this guy?! Why does he know things not even Sanji’s family knows. Why does he look through Sanji’s mask so easily? He doesn’t understand.

At least until he catches a glimpse of the bandana, that slightly slipped and now reveals light green hair behind it. 

Oh.


	8. Chapter 8

Zoro sighs deeply and leans back against the wall of the cell. Everything hurts and he can feel the blood flowing down his stomach where he bleeds through the bandage. The pain is not the problem though. He can deal with pain. The exhaustion annoys him more. He can’t even get up to his feet, even though he is not chained anymore. His body doesn’t allow him to. He’s been pushing himself far over the edge, when they have been attacked by the hunters. And still, he has been caught. 

He didn’t think, they would bring him back here to this place. It has been over a decade, since he has last been here. And it hurts more than he’s imagined. 

He hasn’t expected to meet Sanji again. Not like that at least. He has nothing of that small, fragile boy anymore. Instead he has grown quite strong, Zoro experienced that firsthand. He can’t believe Sanji said all those things...

Zoro doesn’t know what’s going on with the blonde. It’s... almost unreal to hear Curly-Brow talking about slavery like it’s something completely normal. Of all people, Zoro thought **he** would know how sick that is. How disgusting it is to keep someone against their will, lock them up and use them as they please.

But even though Zoro has gotten so mad at Sanji back in his room, couldn’t **listen** to him spewing this bullshit, the one who Zoro blames the most is himself.

This meeting dragged all these past memories to the surface again, and all the feelings connected to that. Even though they haven’t even really got to know each other in the past, Zoro never forgot the boy that saved him. 

He never forgot the promise he made. That he didn’t keep.

He never came back to save Sanji. He never got him out of that basement, out of that castle. 

Zoro doesn’t know what Sanji has been through by now, he probably can’t even imagine. But he wouldn’t have thought that it went so far. That Sanji grew so cold and heartless. And somehow Zoro still doesn’t believe it. He can’t.

He’s pretending. Zoro clenches his fist. He has to, because his family is still around and Sanji doesn’t even know if he can trust Zoro not to spill his secret, if he would decide to stop pretending infront of him. The swordsman doesn’t think, the blonde even recognized him. Maybe he doesn’t even remember. 

Zoro has closed his eyes, but he opens them again, when he hears the door to the basement unlock. He is not in one of the cells that Sanji has been all that years ago. Sanji’s cell hasn’t had bars, it actually has been a room with a bed.

Zoro can see the corridor between his bars and there is nothing in his cell except the cold, hard stone-floor. It doesn’t make a difference either way. A prison stays a prison, no matter how nice it may look. 

He watches as a blackhaired man walks down the stairs and stops infront of Zoro’s cell. His appearance is rather clean, his clothes look expensive. He wears some kind of black robe and at first Zoro thinks this man may be a priest. 

Zoro scoffs. He doesn’t believe in God and he sure as hell won’t pray to one. 

The man has a rather stoic expression on his face, while his yellow eyes seem to pierce through Zoro. He is pretty slim for his height and Zoro notices the sideburn and the small goatee. His hair is mostly hidden by a rather ridiculous dotted hat on his head.

The man looks over Zoro without saying anything. Then he pulls out some keys and opens up the cell.

Zoro is surprised and his leg twitches a little. It’s the perfect opportunity to go and make a run for it after he knocked out that priest, but his body still resists any of his commands. He can’t get up, as much as he wants to. Dammit!

“You wouldn’t come very far,” the man states. Zoro probably isn’t really subtle, the guy can read his intentions from his face. “Not with that wound. You probably lost a lot of blood and moving around will just make it worse.”

It’s when the man kneels next to him and reaches for the bandage, that Zoro realizes, he must be a doctor. Zorro hisses and flinches back. “Don’t you dare touch me!”

The man just raises an eyebrow. “What do you think I could do to you, that the Vinsmokes won’t? I’m here to treat you, not to inflict pain.”

“I don’t trust doctors,” Zoro replies bluntly and stares at the guy, as if he could make him disappear like that. The man doesn’t seem bothered. 

“Probably not a bad decision, now can I see your wound? I have my orders not to let you die here and I will execute them with or without your approval...”

Zoro stares at him, but he realizes that guy was serious. Since the swordsman doesn’t really have another response, he drops his resistance and lets the doctor take off his bandage.

“Death...? How reassuring,” Zoro says with dripping sarcasm as he sees the tattoos on the doctor’s fingers. Each finger has one letter tattooed on it. The ravenhaired man just shrugs and continues with his work.

Zoro doesn’t care anymore. It’s true, the Vinsmokes want him alive, so why should this guy do anything to kill him? Maybe he would do something to hurt him, but Zoro can take it and he is too tired to put up much of a resistance anyway. 

“You must have given them a pretty tough fight, when the only way to get you was to hurt you like that,” the doctor says after a while. It’s true, hunters get payed less, when their prey is harmed, so they usually try to do minimal damage to their goods. Zoro is getting sick just thinking about it.

“Guess I didn’t fight enough..” Zoro mutters more to himself than to the other guy. 

But the doctor disagrees: “They would have killed you rather than to let you go. I won’t say you’re lucky, after all you’re _here_ of all places, but if your goal was to survive, then you did it. Even though I’m not sure this is better than death.”

“I can’t die,” Zoro responds to that and this time he is surprisingly confident and dedicated. “Not yet anyway.”

The doctor doesn’t answer anymore, he also doesn’t really look like he cares. He’s just following orders. Like Sanji did.

He starts treating the wound and stitches him up, even though it’s uncomfortable as hell. But it’s still an improvement to the open and bleeding wound before.

After the ravenhaired stitched him up, he wraps another clean bandaid around Zoro’s chest.

“You’re lucky that the blonde is your master,” the doctor says as he starts collecting all of his tools and puts them back into his bag. “Otherwise I probably wouldn’t be here to save you.”

“I don’t need saving,” Zoro scoffs and he realizes that he probably looks like he is pouting. At least the doctor shoots him an amused look.

“Sure...” The doctor gets up on his feet now and looks back down on Zoro. “What’s your name?”

The swordsman freezes for a moment and looks rather surprised, but then he simply answers: “Zoro.”

“I’m Trafalgar Law,” the man introduces himself as well. “We will probably see each other again in the future.”

“I don’t hope so,” Zoro mutters, since that means he would need more treatment. Surprisingly Law’s face went dark.

“Me neither,” he replies, then he turns around and leaves the cell.

“Wait!” Zoro stops him and the man turns back to him and raises an eyebrow questioningly. Zoro has to collect his thoughts for a moment, but then he asks: “Curly-Brow- I mean the blonde prince... You say I’m lucky. So... he isn’t like his brothers?”

Law looks like he thinks carefully before answering: “I guess he is different, yes. But that doesn’t mean it will be any easier for you. He won’t want to kill you, but you’re still trapped here and you’re still a slave for the Vinsmoke family.”

Zoro sighs. He knows that, he’s not stupid. The truly difficult part will be to escape from here and take Sanji with him. He promised him after all, so he couldn’t leave the blonde now, back here with his family. He has to get him out of here. He should have done that much, much earlier anyway.

The doctor leaves him alone now and Zoro pulls down his bandana and ties it around his arm. At least that’s something these assholes left him, after they took his swords and most of his clothes. They better take good care of his weapons as long as Zoro isn’t able to get them, because else bodies would drop. 

He closes his eyes now, deciding to take this opportunity and take a nap as long as it’s still quiet. He has a feeling, that it wouldn’t stay like this for long, even though his wound needs time to heal. But Zoro also knows that the next few days surely won’t be easy. He has to find a way out of here soon.

Some time later Zoro wakes up when somebody opens the door to the basement again. A girl appears and puts down a tray of food and something to drink infront of the cell, so Zoro can reach for it through the bars. 

He hates the way she looks at him with pity. He’s not a slave and he will get out of here. It’s not like his life is over now. He can take it, whatever the Vinsmokes plan on doing to him from now on.

Zoro moves towards the bars and starts eating. It’s better not to refuse it, he needs the energy. And besides, it wouldn’t make much sense for the Vinsmokes to put something in it. They think, they can do anything they want with Zoro, so why would they hide their intentions or even poison Zoro?

“Does it taste good?”

Zoro stops and looks up to the girl. She flinches back a little and fumbles with her dress nervously. Zoro raises an eyebrow.

“What?”

“The... the food...” She doesn’t look Zoro in the eye, but she continues anyway. “Does it taste good?”

Zoro looks down at the soup and the bread he got. It’s a weird question, but he is more surprised that he didn’t notice that it’s actually a normal meal. The bread must be freshly baked and the soup is tasty and still hot in his hands. Then Zoro looks back up to the girl. “I guess..? I mean, yeah, it tastes good. I’m surprised its still warm.”

The girl smiles a little, she seems a little proud. “I.. I didn’t want to serve cold soup, so..”

“Why did you ask?” Zoro was curious. Even if she cooked it, it is weird to ask something like that, especially since Zoro is considered a slave.

“The prince... he told me to ask,” the girl admits. “Not.. not the royal family, but he told me to ask when I cook something for the other servants.”

“He did?” Zoro isn’t entirely sure, but he guesses it has been Sanji telling her so, and not one of his brothers. “Why?”

“Because... I am.. not very confident in my cooking skills...” She looks down and bites her lip. “And the prince said.. well, he said it would be good to get some other opinions, since...” She looks around as if she wants to check nobody else is here, then she continues: “since the other members of the Royal Family don’t really appreciate the food..”

Zoro scoffs and takes another spoon full of the soup. “I’m not surprised... They probably never had to deal with starvation or anything...”

The girl bites her lip and Zoro adds quickly: “But the soup is great! I mean it, you should be more confident.”

“Thank you...” She smiles again, a little bit surprised about his kindness. After all, he had more to worry about than the insecurities of some servant girl. This thought lets her smile disappear again.

“You... don’t deserve this..”, she says quietly. “But I’m sure, Prince Sanji will treat you well! He.. he isn’t like his brothers. He cares.”

Now Zoro is the one to smile faintly. “He still does, huh?” Zoro is glad to hear that. It eases his worry and strengthen his resolve to take Sanji with him, as soon as he can free himself. He’s still not corrupted by his family. After allthis time, they didn’t manage to break him..!

“I have to go now,” the girl says and Zoro just nods. There is no reason to keep her here and he still needs to catch some more sleep. That is his plan at least, but when the girl makes her way back to the stairs, someone else enters the basement and Zoro can see her freeze and stare to the ground. Zoro can feel the threatening aura and gets tense himself, as a man passes her, but he also ignores her completely. She isn’t even worth a glance. For a moment she stopped breathing, but then she quickly gathers herself and rushes upstairs, away from the prince that now stopped infront of Zoro’s cell. 

“So here did Sanji try to hide you...”


	9. Chapter 9

Zoro doesn’t look up, when the Vinsmoke approaches. He doesn’t even react, when the Prince starts talking.

“So here did Sanji try to hide you...”

He ignores the man and eats his soup instead. At least until the Vinsmoke kicks the bowl out of his hands.

“Hey, I was talking to you...!”

Zoro looks up unimpressed and more annoyed than cautious. At least the soup isn’t too hot anymore, so it doesn’t burn his leg, where the soup spilled. But he still wanted to eat that..!

“But I wasn’t talking to you, obviously,” Zoro replies, very well aware of the fact that he is getting himself into some serious trouble right now. But he isn’t about to bow down and listen to that brat.

The other has green hair as well, even though it is longer and styled back. He is wearing pretty expensive clothes paired with a black cape. 

He is the one who started a fight with Sanji, when the blonde had picked him as his slave earlier. Apparently he has a very short temper, because his face is bright red now and he harshly orders one of the guards to open the cell.

Zoro wants to get on his feet, to face this guy standing, but his legs won’t support him, so he slides back down. There is nothing he can do about it, as much as he hates it.

“Prince Yonji, we have to warn you that Your Majesty strictly forbid-”, one of the guards starts talking but the Prince just shoots them a warning glare, so he shuts up again.

“I don’t care what my father said about that. I will deal with that later...” He turns back to Zoro and looks down on him, clearly furious. “But first I have to make sure, this vermin is taught a lesson... since Sanji won’t do that, even though he promised to train him properly.”

Yonji grabs Zoro by the throat and drags him to his feet by force. Zoro hisses silently. That isn’t really comfortable with his wound and the grip is strong enough to choke Zoro, at least to make it harder for him to breathe, but he doesn’t want to give that guy any satisfaction, so he just glares at him in hatred, like he did before. 

Yonji scoffs. “You really don’t get it yet, do you?”

Zoro gasps and curls slightly, when Yonji’s fist connects with his stomach. Pain flares up in his side and makes his knees even weaker, but the Prince still holds him up and in place. The asshole aimed for his wound!

“You’re our property and property doesn’t talk back, you hear me?!”

“Property usually doesn’t talk at all,” Zoro hisses through grinding teeth, but realizes it doesn’t send the right message, when Yonji starts grinning sadistically.

“Exactly... Now you got it.”

Another blow follows and Zoro bites back any sound. The Vinsmoke just wants him to groan in pain, but he wouldn’t give him that. Instead he glares at him again, as if to dare him to do worse.

That doesn’t really help to calm Yonji down though. If anything it just makes him more furious and his grip on Zoro’s throat tightens enough to cut him off air for good. Zoro tries to tear Yonji’s hand away, but the blood loss soaked up a lot of this energy and strength. 

“You really want to defy me?? Ohh, you’re gonna regret that, I will-”

“You will do nothing!” A harsh voice is heard from the stairs, as another Vinsmoke heads down to Zoro’s cell. Yonji turns around as well, still choking his ‘prey’ and pressing him against the wall behind. He raises a curled eyebrow to look at his brother.

“And what are you going to do about it?” he taunts him. “Are you gonna fight me to help this slave? I wouldn’t complain, at least then I can show our father, that you didn’t change at all.”

“Let him go,” Sanji demands, not at all intimidated by his brother. Instead he meets his eye without hesitation and keeps glaring at Yonji.

Zoro still struggles against the grip, but his efforts are in vain. He can’t breathe! And he is too weak to tear himself away, as much as he hates feeling this helpless.

“He’s my slave, do you understand?” Sanji continues, but he is surprisingly calm for the fact that his brother is slowly draining the life out of Zoro. “If you kill him, you will have to pay me back somehow, especially since our father said noone is to lay a hand on him except for me.”

Yonji grinds his teeth, but then he lets go of Zoro. The swordsman drops to the floor and starts coughing violently as well as gasping for air. His throat hurts pretty bad, but at least he is alive.

“You don’t train him at all,” Yonji hisses. “Instead you even send someone to stitch him up and treat him?! Someone has to take action, if you don’t!”

Sanji sighs and shakes his head, as if Yonji were just a little boy, who couldn’t understand. “You’re too impatient. Of course I stitched him up, I don’t want him to die on his first day. But if you think it’s because I’m soft for some slave like that, you’re mistaken.”

Zoro has stopped coughing finally. Instead he stares up to the blonde in disbelief now. He has to remind himself that this is an act, that Sanji pretends, because his brother is watching, but it’s hard to believe, because the blonde actually sounds very convincing.

Yonji doesn’t look convinced though and crosses his arms over his chest. But before he can say something, Sanji speaks up again in harsh tone: “Get out!”

His brother knows he shouldn’t even be here an as much as it annoys and frustrates him, he can’t do anything about Sanji. Yet. So he steps out of the cell and scoffs, before making his way upstairs again, leaving the new slave with Sanji. 

They are not entirely alone, some of the guards are still there, probably making sure Sanji doesn’t have any trouble with the slave. Even though Zoro can’t even properly stand on his own right now.

Sanji’s gaze drops back to Zoro, but it’s still cold and emotionless. For a moment he just stands there, watching Zoro and Zoro looks back watching Sanji, trying to see any crack in his facade. 

“I don’t get, what you’re doing,” Zoro suddenly admits. “Don’t you remember me? I know, I’m late, but I told you. I’m not gonna stay. I remember my promise and I don’t intend to break it, Curly-Brow.”

If Sanji does remember the nickname or the promise that Zoro made when they were kids, that he would get him out of this hell, the blonde doesn’t let it show. He seems so unaffected by these words that Zoro really wonders if Sanji can recall that time. 

But then Sanji looks over to the guards. “Leave us alone,” he orders.

“But Prince-” one of the guards starts but the blonde cuts him off: “Leave! Now! I can take care of him myself.”

Reluctantly the guards leave the basement and the door falls close behind them. They are alone.

Then Sanji suddenly moves. He enters the cell and before Zoro can even comprehend the situation, he is grabbed by the throat another time today and forced up to his feet. He groans and his hand shoots up to Sanjis wrist. What the hell is he doing?!

“Do you really think, I’m pretending? I told you before, didn’t I?! You’re a slave, you’re nothing more than a toy, so don’t you get noisy just because I let someone treat your wounds!”

“That’s... not you..!” Zoro gasps for air again, but his gaze is fixated on Sanji. “Noone is here.. I can help..!”

As sudden as he grabbed Zoro before, it was over again and Sanji dropped him to the floor. The swordsman groans again and rubs his throat. 

“You want to help me?” The prince laughs sarcastically. “It’s a little too late for that, don’t you think? I don’t need your help, I’m perfectly fine where I am. All I need is your obedience.. But we will get there.”

Zoro clenches his fists. He doesn’t believe it. He doesn’t believe it’s too late to help Sanji. He can’t be changed that much, he just can’t..! Because if he is... then it’s all Zoro’s fault. He should have come earlier.

“You have to remember..!” Zoro still hopes for a reaction that proves, Sanji is still there, the kid he knows is not entirely gone. “You saved me back then! Despite your father’s rage...”

Sanji kneels infront of him now and grabs his chin, staring him dead in the eye. “I will just say it once, so you better listen to me...” He forces Zoro to look at him, his grip painfully hard.

“I don’t know you,” he says simply, but it’s enough to let Zoro’s heart drop. There is not one single emotion, nothing. The words may be simple, but the meaning isn’t. It doesn’t matter, if Sanji really doesn’t recognize him or if he chose these words despite the fact that he does remember. Because the message is clear: Zoro doesn’t mean anything to him, neither does the promise.

Zoro has to realize it’s indeed too late. Sanji is a Vinsmoke, it’s what Judge made him into after all those years. The kid that saved Zoro, openly defied his father and saved Zoro...

He’s gone.


	10. Chapter 10

Zoro wipes the sweat off his forehead. Even though he’s just standing there in his ragged pants, only a bandage wrapped around his upper body, the work is more than enough warm him up, despite the actual cold down here.

“There are no breaks!” one of the guard shouts as he sees Zoro catching his breath for a moment. The sound of the whip striking his body echoes through the tunnel and some of the other slaves are flinching, even though it’s Zoro who twitches and lets out a hiss through gritted teeth.

He can feel blood dripping down his arm, where the whip hit him, but he ignores it, instead he raises his pickaxe again and starts pounding into the mix of hardened dirt and stone infront of him. It’s a good way to let out his frustration over the whole situation. The fact that he can’t fight back without risking to be beaten to death, or the fact that he can’t even take a moment to **breathe** , without facing immediate consequences. 

He usually doesn’t have a problem with strenuous work like that, he’s trained enough not to be phased by physical labour. Usually. But his injury has started throbbing after two hours without break and he is still weakened by it. It has just been a couple of days after all and it definitely hasn’t been enough time to recover from an injury like that. Still, they send him down here.

No, not they... _Sanji_ did. Since he doesn’t have any other use for Zoro as his personal slave, he send him to the others working on some kind of basement that Judge wants for his castle. Guards are constantly watching them, making sure they don’t slack off and if they do, well...

They’ve already dragged out another man, cuts and bruises all over his body, bleeding from several wounds from being whipped over and over again. Zoro is pretty sure he won’t make it, not without proper and immediate treatment, but he doubts that will be the case. It’s cheaper just to buy a new slave after all.

Zoro’s breath is laboured. He can feel every muscle in his body and he isn’t sure how long the all have been working here already. The guards changed shifts twice already, so Zoro assumes it’s been almost a whole day.

A whole day without as much as a break to relief themselves. No food. Not even water. It doesn’t surprise him that his head has started aching a while ago and he slowly feels dizziness taking over him. 

He is pretty sure the injury on his chest opened again as well. Even though it’s dark down here and there is just so much light candles in a lamp can provide, he thinks he can see the blood leaking through his bandages. 

Suddenly there is a bell ringing, letting him snap out of his thoughts. The other slaves lower their tools and start lining up and Zoro does the same. He supposes the bell is some kind of signal for them to end their work for the day, even though the guards still take a good look after them, when they finally get out of the basement one after one. 

All of them are physically and emotionally exhausted, some have trouble even staying on their feet, but the guards don’t allow anyone to break the chain by leaning against the cold wall or by accidentally stumbling out of line. If they move too slow, the guards are eager to motivate them to walk again. 

Zoro glares at the guards while passing them, but suddenly he feels another slave bumping into him from behind. He turns around, but the man shakes his head, signaling him to keep looking forward, so Zoro does.

“Don’t challenge them. If they see you looking at them like you want to rip their throats out, they are gonna show you how it’s done with you as example,” the man speaks in low and raspy voice and Zoro has to fight the urge to look back to him again. If he saw correctly it was one of the guys who arrived with him a few days ago. The one with the white hair and burns all over his body. He has been in bad shape as well, it’s surprising that he can still keep himself on his feet. Even for someone in perfect health and strong body this day would have been a true challenge.

But this is about survival. None of them have a choice if they want to live another day.

“Not if I am faster..” Zoro responds with a grunt. He knows it’s stupid, he can’t start a fight here, but that doesn’t keep him from fantasizing about it.

“Don’t be an idiot,” the other man scolds him and it’s getting on Zoro’s nerve. He _knows_ it’s not a good idea!

“Hey, you two! Shut your mouth and keep walking!” one of the guards shouts and his whip hits the ground next to them, dangerously close to their bare feet. Not that they don’t hurt already, walking on stones with sharp and pointy edges all day. 

The man behind him remains silent from there on. So does Zoro. There is nothing to say anyway.

The relief that overcomes all of them when they finally arrive in the barn where they sleep for the night is almost tangible. It doesn’t have beds, or anything, not even covers to shield themselves from the freezing cold that is creeping through the wooden walls, but that doesn’t matter as most of them just collapse on the spot out of sheer exhaustion. 

Zoro slides down one of the walls, leaning against the wood with his bare back, but he isn’t really sensitive to the cold either way. The guards actually leave now, locking all of them inside, but finally they have some freedom and rest.

Zoro closes his eyes and doesn’t open them, even when he senses someone sitting down next to him.

“You’re pretty tough, aren’t you?” It’s the man with the white hair again. Zoro recognizes his voice, his eyes are still closed as he answers: “Guess so...”

“You still shouldn’t mess with the guards.” 

Zoro sighs. “I don’t. They are the one’s messing with me. But I will get out of here and then they are gonna regret it.” It’s a fact. 

He can hear the other man laughing. He seems amused by Zoro’s determination, but the swordsman doesn’t care. It doesn’t change anything.

“I actually believe you,” the man answers, even if he is still smirking. “Do you have a plan?”

Now Zoro cracks open an eye and looks at the other skeptically. “You mean, you want in?”

“Depends on how good the plan sounds.”

Zoro sighs again and crosses his arms infront of his chest. “I don’t have a plan. Yet,” he admits and shrugs. “Probably gonna wing it somehow.”

“Wing-... What? Are you serious?” The eyes of the other man widen. 

“What’s with this barn? Doesn’t look too strong, I could probably break through easily,” Zoro continues, but one of the other slaves turns around to them. Apart from Zoro and the man with the white hair, this guy is one of the only slaves that seemed to be doing okay if compared to the others.

“Don’t try it. You’re not the first one thinking of that,” he says and pushes his red hair out of the way. “Honestly, I am all for busting out, but the barn is protected by a spell. Wouldn’t do you any good, probably would just kill you. I’m Eustass Kid by the way.”

Zoro hasn’t been asking, but he nods nevertheless. “Zoro. So they have a mage?”

“Of course they do, they are the royal family, what do you think?” The redhead scoffs and shakes his head, then he suddenly gets up. “You hungry?”

“Stop it! I will get it” The other guy next to Zoro stands up as well and the swordsman frowns. What the hell is going on now? They should use the opportunity and rest. Although his own stomach growls in betrayal. 

“The guards left no food,” Zoro states the obvious while the two men glare at each other. But then the guy with the white hair looks back at Zoro and smiles a little.

“No, they didn’t. But someone else did.” Before Zoro gets to question that statement, the guy walks off to the other side of the barn. Zoro frowns again.

“What the hell...?”

“Stupid Hyun..” Eustass mutters to himself, but sinks down to the floor again. “It was far more fun, before he got here.”

So his name was Hyun. Zoro watches as he kneels down on the opposite side of the barn and knocks on the wooden floor, then he grabs one of the tiles and pulls it away. Some sort of secret stash?

Zoro watches as Hyun pulls out a bag and the slaves close to him, as exhausted as they are, reach out to it in desperation. Hyun opens the bag and starts handing out bread and water to the others. He helps the people that cannot sit up alone or are too shaky to eat for themselves and the other slaves that are in shape to do so, follow his example and tend to the one’s that are not able to take care of themselves. 

Eustass rolls his eyes, but still takes the bread that Hyun offers him, when the other man finally comes back to them, handing them the last few supplies.

Zoro takes one too, but he is hesitant in doing so. “Are you sure this is okay? It’s nothing left, isn’t it?” The bag looks pretty empty to him, but Hyun doesn’t seem to be concerned. 

“It won’t be when we return tomorrow night,” he explains. “It gets refilled every day.”

That surprises Zoro. “Really? But if they want to feed us, why don’t they-”

“It’s not the Vinsmokes,” Eustass interrupts him sharply. “They don’t care about us in the slightest. Wouldn’t shed a tear when some of us were to die because of starvation or dehydration.”

“Wow, I didn’t know you care so much about the others in here,” Hyun replies dryly and clearly in sarcasm, then turns to Zoro to explain: “Eustass here thought it’s funny to keep the stash to himself every night and make the other slaves beg for the food and water.”

“Yeah, until I-will-save-everybody showed up and took that away from me,” Eustass complains. Zoro’s eyes narrow on him. 

“Seriously?!”

“I still gave it to them..” Eustass mutters and shrugs. “Just took a little extra effort for them.”

“Anyway...” Hyun sighs and shakes his head. “We don’t know who to thank for the food, but apparently it’s like that since over a year. The guards don’t know and neither do the Vinsmokes.”

Zoro remains silent, but he isn’t so sure about that.. This has a very distinctive handwriting. It’s exactly something Sanji would do, at least Zoro assumes.

Yes, he thought that the kid that he got to know all these years ago, is lost, but maybe, just maybe he’s still there. Trying to help, even if it’s just that little. Maybe this part of Sanji is getting suppressed every day, every second his family is around or someone is there to watch him, but this... this may be the one thing Sanji is able to do.

Zoro isn’t entirely sure about this. It could be someone else helping out, one of the cooks or the maids having a soft spot for all of these slaves, but... Zoro has a feeling about this. And usually he can trust his gut.


	11. Chapter 11

Zoro eats the piece of bread, that Hyun has offered him. It isn’t much, but it’s enough to gain a little more energy for tomorrow, since he assumes the next day won’t get any better.

He decides to catch some sleep and lies down, closing his eyes. He manages to fall asleep quite fast, after all he is skilled in sleeping anywhere and in almost any type of situation.

His sleep is deep enough so he doesn’t wake up, when Eustass and Hyun are arguing again, but when some guards head towards the barn, it’s enough to let Zoro stir awake, before they even reach the doors.

He sits up and watches as the guards enter the barn with a large bowl. “Breakfast is ready,” one of the guards says with a sadistic grin on his face, as he tosses some leftovers from the bowl to the floor. Some of the food doesn’t look too good anymore, some of it has already gone bad.

Yesterday’s food was nice, but it wasn’t nearly enough to feed them all, so the slaves are still trying to grab and stuff their face with whatever they can get into their hands.

Zoro doesn’t join them, instead he starts glaring at the guards again. He doesn’t even notice that he does, until one of them turns to him and furrows his brow.

“Oi, you! What’s your problem?!”

The guard moves closer and Zoro lets out a low growl. What his problem is? Did he really just ask him that?!

But the man doesn’t like the disobedience. He grabs Zoro by the hair and drags him up to his feet by force. Zoro’s hand shoots up to his wrist, but has no choice as to let himself get pulled up.

“Seems like you are healthy enough to give us shit,” the man growls. His fist connects with Zoro’s stomach and the swordsman gasps for air and drops on his knees again, after he is released from the grip. Asshole...!

Zoro looks up to him again and his gaze lost none of its intensity and fire. The guard grimaces and motions to one of the others.

“We have a deviant here.”

Zoro isn’t even sure, what’s that supposed to mean, but the other guard seems to understand and they both start grinning mischievously.

He grabs one of Zoro’s arms and pulls him up, dragging him outside. At first Zoro stumbles a little, but he doesn’t resist, even though he wants to. But his gut tells him it’s not the right moment yet. He has to wait a little more.

He isn’t surprised, when one of the guards starts beating him as soon as they are outside. At first he uses his hands, but as soon as Zoro hits the ground after one of the harder punches, they both start kicking him.

Zoro lets out another low growl. He hates being at their mercy like that, when it would be so easy to snap their necks like twigs with his bare hands. But he knows it’s not that simple. The consequences would be bad and he is keen on surviving whatever they are throwing in his way. He has to survive.

He gasps for air, when something pierces through his hand, and he has to swallow a pained scream. Fuck-!! One of the guards stabbed him with his sword! And instead of pulling it out, he starts to **twist** it.

Zoro’s breath is heavy and he tries to bite back any noise, but it really hurts like hell. Damn, these assholes! Do they even realize what they are doing?

But then Zoro remembers once again, that they don’t care. Zoro is just a slave for them. He can be replaced very easily, they don’t care about whether he survives all this. Even though he is supposed to work for Sanji…

“What is going on here?!” A voice suddenly gets loud. At first Zoro thinks it’s Sanji. The pain is clouding his mind and allows for more wishful thinking. But then as he looks up, he realizes it’s one of the other Vinsmoke brothers.

Fuck.

The guards freeze and lean back in surprise, while the greenhaired Vinsmoke eyes Zoro with interest. Of course it has to be the guy who has been fighting with Sanji over him. The guy who already visited him in his cell two days ago. Is his bad luck ever ending?

“Ah, Prince Yonji, please forgive us if we were disturbing you,” one of the guards is quickly to apologize, bowing his head. “This was not our inten-”

“Isn’t that Sanji’s slave?” Yonji asks curious and raises an eyebrow, even though he already knows the answer. “Why is he here?”

“Prince Sanji gave orders to let this one work with the other slaves in the basement, but he has been acting rebellious, so we wanted to teach him a lesson.”

Yonji suddenly starts grinning and steps closer. He grabs a fistful of Zoro’s hair and roughly pulls him up, so the swordsman grimaces, but again his eyes are filled with determination and fire. They can’t break him and he intends to show them that.

“I will take over from here,” Yonji says and the guards grow nervous.

“B-but Prince Yonji... your brother also ordered us to make sure that he wouldn’t be touched by any other than us, especially-”

“Urgh, I know!” Yonji rolled his eyes. “Little brother is really protective over this one, isn’t he? Getting his first slave and then he doesn’t even take care of it himself.” He licks his lips while staring at Zoro and a shudder runs down Zoro’s spine. This guy was disgusting!

“Don’t fucking touch me,” Zoro growls and tears his head out of the other’s grip. There is just so much he endures without fighting back. Yonji looks surprised, but then he actually laughs. The guards look at each other with unease.

“Just give him to me for some time. Sanji won’t even notice, it’s not like he is here to take care of his slave. If he orders others to teach this slave, it’s his fault.”

The guards don’t dare to talk back, but they really hope Yonji is right and Sanji will never find out, they went against his orders. Sanji is told to be the least dangerous one of the four brothers, but the guards can’t really confirm that. The blonde can be damn scary, when he is furious. And giving his slave to one of his brothers would definitely make him furious.

Zoro curses internally when Yonji grabs the chain around Zoro’s neck and drags him off to the castle again. Damn, he‘d rather work in the basement than to figure out what Yonji is planning to do with him. At least in the basement he has been able to work more or less in peace, apart from the occasional whip lash.

Zoro stumbles after him, trying to keep Yonji’s pace, but as much as Zoro would love to pretend the beating didn’t faze him, he knows the wound on his stomach, that already opened when he had been working in the basement yesterday, has just gotten worse. He certainly has some bruised if not broken ribs and his hand is pulsating and bleeding heavily.

Yonji pulls him inside and Zoro doesn’t know if he should be happy or nervous about the fact that their destination is right around the corner.

He settles for troubled, because as soon as they are inside, Yonji strikes him with his fist in his face and the chains clink when Zoro meets the floor groaning once again. This is gonna leave a bruise, he knows it. But then again. His body is covered in bruises already and somehow he feels like it‘s not gonna stop there.

Yonji pulls him up to his unsteady feet by the chains again and drags him through the room. Zoro just realizes in how much trouble he really managed to get, because there is no other way as to describe this place as torture room.

If the different kind of whips and other instruments aren‘t any indication, the dried blood on the floor and the walls help paint a very ugly picture of what this room is frequently used for. And Zoro assumes it‘s frequently, because he can tell that some of the blood isn‘t that old yet.

There is a table at one side of the room, clearly to strap someone down there and do whatever lies in one‘s imagination, and there is a chair next to it, for the same purpose. Zoro almost hopes to be tied down on the chair, because even in his weakened state it would be fairly easy to rip of the leather restraints and surprise Yonji with an attack. Maybe he could even make it out of here and find Sanji.

But instead the greenhaired Vinsmoke hauls him over to a bloodstained wall and pushes Zoro against it face first. He doesn‘t let go of the chain around his neck though.

“Raise your arms..“, Yonji orders him, but Zoro is stubborn, even though he knows it won‘t help him. But the Vinsmoke is wrong-wired, if he thinks Zoro is gonna make it easy for him.

“ **Make** me“, he bites back and he would have stared Yonji down if he had been able to.

He does get a rise out of Yonji though, because the Vinsmoke doesn‘t like the way he talks back one bit. “You're gonna regret that...“

Zoro may actually believe that, but it‘s too late now anyway. Yonji‘s fists collides with his side and Zoro stumbles sideways, but the actual punch that follows is much harder. Heavy iron strikes his stomach and leaves Zoro gasping for air, while his knees buckle. He doesn‘t know when Yonji put on brace knuckles, but the swordman feels like that‘s almost cheating. Not that anything in this fight is fair. Or that this even is an actual fight.

He doesn‘t give Zoro much time to think about it, because the next blow goes to his temple. Again.

But this time Zoro can feel something running down his face and his head is spinning. He can taste something metal in his mouth as well and he tries to push himself up again, but Yonji kicks him back down and presses him onto the ground with his foot.

“Maybe you were a fighter before. I can believe that, you certainly have the skills and the spirit,“ Yonji starts but his words are followed with a scoff. “But now you are a slave, do you understand that?? You don‘t have a title, you don‘t have a name. Noone cares about you. Noone would care if you died. You‘re only alive to serve us, to follow our every wish and order.“ Another kick follows the first and Zoro bites back any sound, even though it hurts his back and he prays this guy is not about to break any bones. His spine for example.

“I‘m not... a slave..“ Zoro manages to cough. They might treat him like one, but Zoro won‘t submit to them. He‘s stronger than that. They won‘t be able to break him.

Even though it looks like Yonji at least tries to. He kicks Zoro again, burying his heel painfully into Zoro‘s back. He‘s glaring down at him and growls: “You are pathetic... You‘re not worth anything, do you understand?! I‘m gonna teach you not to talk back!“

Yonji hauls him back to his feet again and Zoro really hopes the Vinsmoke will decide soon, whether he wants Zoro up or down, because it is getting exhausting to change his position all the time.  
Zoro hasn‘t even noticed that there are two guards, who followed them inside earlier, probably to make sure Zoro doesn‘t harm the prince, but after Yonji signals them to come over, they grab both of Zoro‘s arms and lift him up. More chains shut close around his wrists, so he is being held up at the wall by his arms, his face turned to the bricks once more.

Yonji grabs his chin and forces Zoro to turn his head to the side to look at him. They stare each other for a moment, until the Vinsmoke scoffs again. “You‘re either really brave or really stupid not to be afraid. Probably both. But I‘m gonna teach you to behave, don‘t you worry... So you better say `yes, sir´!“

Zoro looks at him as if Yonji has lost his mind. “Fuck you!“ he replies instead and grins at Yonji challenging, even though there is still blood running down the side of his face.

Yonji is absolutely furious. Zoro can tell from the way he suddenly goes rigid and his muscles tense, while he grits his teeth. He stares at Zoro as if he considers ripping off his head right here, but he barely holds himself back.

The prince grabs a fistful of Zoro‘s hair and pulls his head back. Zoro doesn‘t really have time to regret his words, when Yonji smashes his head against the brick wall with full force. Pain explodes in Zoro‘s head and he can feel more blood dripping down the other side of his face now, but he doesn‘t really register it. His sight is blurred and he feels dizzy. He blinks multiple times in hopes that will help him see more clearly again, but when he does, he realizes Yonji is not next to him anymore. He can‘t turn his head around much, chained to the wall like that, but even though he hopes the prince will just leave him here as punishment, he feels like it‘s far from over.

Unfortunately his gut turns out to be right. Not soon after he manages to beat the dizziness, there is a far too familiar sound mixed with burning pain that suddenly flares up on his back. Shit! He groans and pulls on the chains holding him, but it‘s no use. Yonji hits him again, leaving another bloody line as the leather of the whip cuts deep into Zoro‘s skin.

Zoro bites his lip hard enough to draw more blood, but he won‘t give the asshole the satisfaction of screaming. He can take these hits. Even though he absolutely hates it and it makes him sick to the stomach.

_Scars on the back are a shame for a swordsman…_

Another hit burns hot against his skin and he squints his eyes, cursing as silently as possible. Why his back of all places?! 

Zoro doesn‘t care about the collar. He doesn‘t care about the chain that is connected to it. He doesn‘t care about the names they call him or that they try to strip him of his humanity. 

It hurt, when the slave traders hit him with their clubs and it hurt even more, when the only way to get Zoro under control, was to stab him. It hurt as well, when the guards hit him with their whips at his feet or arms. Even his chest hasn‘t been spared, even though he is already hurt and it barely had time to heal up until now. It also hurt when Sanji kicked him, even though it has been a little bit different, because it mixed with another kind of pain.

He could take it. All of that. He doesn‘t care.

But this hurts more than everything else. Every whiplash on his back burns worse than the other. He can feel every bit of it and it feels like it‘s burning deep into his soul as well. They tried to strip him of his humanity, but this is the action that actually _feels_ humiliating. As if they try to take his pride as swordsman from him.

He hates it, because that is the only thing that is left from Kuina. The only thing that is left from his life that didn‘t get destroyed by slave traders or people like the Vinsmoke family… And they tarnished it. Again.


	12. Chapter 12

Blood is dripping on the floor. His whole back is covered in deep cuts, where the whip hit him and the pain is overwhelming. Zoro can‘t even think properly. He is dizzy again and black spots are forming in his vision. He just... wants to sleep. Give in to the welcoming feeling of darkness and unconsciousness.

But the pain always brings him back violently. It doesn‘t stop, goddammit-!

Just barely Zoro is aware of the door opening. Light is falling through the frame and he can hear someone talk.

"What the hell is going on here, Yonji?!“

Sanji.

And he is mad.

"I‘m just doing your job. I‘m training him!“ Yonji says and scoffs. "I told you, if you‘re not gonna train him, I will do it. But instead you just put him to the other slaves..?“

"It‘s not your business, what I am doing with my slave,“ Sanji hisses and he shoves his brother. "Out. Now!“

Yonji is not happy about this at all and he shows his teeth like a feral dog, when Sanji shoves him. "You‘re too soft to be one of us,“ he growls. "Father doesn‘t see it yet, but he will. And when he does, you will regret being born, I can promise you that..“

"Right now I just regret that you were born. And now leave!“ Sanji's voice is threatening enough that Zoro can feel a shiver running down his spine, even though it isn‘t directed at him. Yonji doesn`t say anything else and just drops the whip, then he leaves the room silently. Sanji watches him go, then he turns to the slave.

He bites his lip. That‘s definitely a lot of blood and his back doesn‘t look good in the slightest. "Get him down there,“ Sanji orders and the two guards from earlier are coming closer again and release Zoro from his chains.

As soon as he is not being held up by his wrists, his legs give in and he hits the floor painfully. He tries to force his eyes open, but it‘s no use. Everything is burning and hurting and he is exhausted. He just wants to sleep...

Sanji moves closer and scolds the guards for their carelessness, dropping his slave like this. They apologize, but when they try to pull Zoro up again, Sanji snaps at them and orders them to get the doctor and a stretcher to properly move Zoro away from this room.

They leave Sanji with his slave and the blonde kneels next to him, inspecting the wounds. Yonji didn‘t hold back at all. He went all out, as if he actually wanted to kill the slave.

"Oi, are you alive?“ Sanji checks his pulse and is relieved to feel his heartbeat there. Then he takes another look at the wounds and curses again. "Damn, Yonji, what do you think you‘re doing...?“ he mutters and clenches his fist.

Zoro coughs once and his whole body is shaking from the pain it causes. "Education..“ he replies to Sanji‘s words dryly. His voice sounds raspy and broken. "If that‘s how your father educated you, I‘m almost sorry for you all...“  
  
Zoro is barely conscious, but still he found the strength to crack such jokes. Unbelievably. Sanji scoffs.

"You know my father's education methods better than everyone else.“

Even though it takes him a lot of effort and it hurts like hell, he turns to Sanji more and cracks one eye open to look at him. „You remember,“ he mutters and Sanji curses himself silently. Then he sighs loudly.

"I do. Stupid marimo. God, I can‘t believe you‘re here again as a slave.“ He clenches his fist and shakes his head. He shouldn‘t talk to Zoro like that, but- dammit, it‘s Zoro! The boy that promised him to save him and get him out of that cell his father locked him in, even though he knew how dangerous that could be.

When Sanji looks back at Zoro, he doesn‘t expect the mosshead to smile, but there it is. The corners of his mouth pulled up slightly, his eyes closed again.

"I was worried they actually got to you...“ he murmurs again, his consciousness slipping, but he has to say it. It‘s important. "Your family.“

Sanji closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He doesn‘t know what to say. Zoro doesn‘t know, he couldn‘t understand the situation Sanji is in. Well, maybe he could, but Sanji can‘t explain it to him anyway.

"They did get to me,“ Sanji replies after a moment. "Just... not how you might think.“

He doesn‘t get an answer and the blonde realizes that Zoro lost consciousness. Sanji bites his lip.

If he is honest with himself, he doesn't know what to do with Zoro. He knows what his family expects him to do and what Yonji did to Zoro is the best example that it isn‘t enough, just to let him work in the basement with the other slaves. And Yonji is right. It‘s not enough for their father either.

The door opens and the guards come back with a stretcher, followed by Law. The doctor hurries over to Zoro and takes Sanji‘s place after the blonde gets up, so he isn‘t in the way.

"He lost a lot of blood...“ Law states, even though that was apparent from the pool of blood that had formed around Zoro. Suddenly Sanji feels stupid that he didn‘t think of trying to stop the bleeding until Law arrived. Even though he wouldn‘t even know where to begin. Zoro‘s whole back is one big injury, the cuts are everywhere and they are deep.

"Can I help someh-“ Sanji starts but Law cuts him off: "You can stay back and let me handle this. Go back to your room, Your Highness.“

Sanji is surprised and a little bit shocked. He didn‘t expect Law to react like that. The way he emphasized Sanji‘s title, as if the royalty is all Law can see in Sanji now. Noone in his right mind would try to order one of the Vinsmokes around, but Law is different like that. And Sanji always felt like Law understands that Sanji isn‘t like the rest of his family.

Maybe he has been wrong about that though, because when Sanji doesn‘t move from the spot, Law looks up to him and Sanji takes a step back just because of the way Law looks at him. It is a look of hatred and disgust, that Sanji can‘t understand, but he doesn‘t really want to stay and ask.

He just turns around now and leaves the room as quickly as possible, his heart sinking.

It‘s not the first time he received such a look. There have been.. moments in his life he isn‘t proud of. Far from it. He did terrible things, even if he liked to think he isn‘t like his family, his hands most definitely aren‘t clean.

But he thought Law understands. Sanji knows that Law grew up in a difficult household as well. He knows that Law himself has done some things he would rather take back, but he felt like he had no other choice than to comply.

They aren‘t really close, it‘s not like Judge would allow something like that. A Vinsmoke doesn‘t have friends. There is only the family to rely on. There is no need for something trivial like friends. Also Law hasn‘t been here for longer than a few months, but they had a connection and Law did check up on Sanji a few times.  
  
Sanji closes his eyes again and takes another deep breath. The look hurt, but this isn‘t about him. He has to figure out what to do about Zoro now. He needs to rest so his wounds have a chance to heal, but he feels like that is something Judge wouldn‘t approve of.

He doesn’t realize where he is going - Law told him to get back to his room, but that is not the direction his feet are taking him -, but fitting his bad luck lately, he runs into his father and the rest of the family strolling behind him.

Yonji is there too, grinning from ear to ear and Sanji doesn’t like it. His eyes narrow a little and he hopes Yonji can feel that he is still furious about what he did to Zoro. Even though now is probably not a good time to mention that.  
  
“Sanji!” Judge calls out and he looks him up and down. “So is it true?”

The younger blonde frowns and his gaze moves over to his father, his confusion visible on his face. “What is true?”

He would be worried that Yonji told him everything, but to his surprise, Judge actually sounds delighted. He expected that he would have to lie again, about his intentions with Zoro. That he just waited to train him for a reason and that it’s not Yonji’s place to judge his methods. But he doesn’t know what this is.

“Yonji told me everything”, Judge says, but he is still _grinning_ for whatever reason. He grabs Sanji by the arms and shakes him a little. “I knew there was a Vinsmoke in you! I’m glad I didn’t waste all those years raising you…”

“What are you talking about?” Sanji asks, still scowling, but there is a feeling in his stomach making him sick. The way his father praises him… is just wrong.

“Don’t pretend like you don’t know…” It looks like Judge is regaining some of his composure and he lets go of Sanji again. He straightens his back and adds: “I’m glad to hear that you took care of your slave. You still have to learn how to train them correctly, but I’m sure your next slave will work for you a little while longer and-”

“My next slave?!” Sanji suddenly is highly alarmed. That doesn’t sound good at all! But the blonde is quick to grasp the whole meaning of his father’s words and his eyes widen as he realizes, Yonji must have told him it was Sanji, who tortured and hurt Zoro like that.

This puts Sanji in a very bad spot. He can either agree, saying it was indeed him who whipped Zoro until he was barely conscious, or he tells the truth, but then he more or less proves what Yonji has been saying about him over and over again: That he is weak and soft and he didn’t change at all.

As much as Sanji hates it, he can’t risk it. Not now.

So he doesn’t correct his father.

“Of course you need a new slave,” Judge says and raises an eyebrow. “You can’t keep him. He will most likely die from his injuries in the next few days.”

“Trafalgar can treat him,” Sanji answers now, after he swallowed all of his emotions and buried them deep. He has to convince his father with practical arguments. He doesn’t care for sentimentality.

“It’s not worth the trouble and work. There are more slaves that can satisfy your needs.” Judge is about to walk past Sanji as he considers the conversation to be over, but the blonde Prince stops him again: “I want this one.”

Judge makes a halt and looks at his son surprised. “What? Repeat that.”

“I want this one,” Sanji follows Judge's order and he doesn’t falter under his father’s gaze. “I didn’t have a slave in ages and I want this one now. Trafalgar is going to treat him and I’m going to enjoy him more. He’s surprisingly strong and can take a lot. I think it would be wasteful to just let him die.”

Sanji phrases this request as a statement on purpose. He learned that Judge - as long as you’re not disrespectful - likes when his sons already have made up their mind about something, so they don’t have to ask for permission, even though Judge still has to grant him that. 

“Alright…” Judge agrees and Sanji silently lets out his breath. “Law can try to see if he can fix the slave. But don’t be reluctant to replace him if necessary.”

Sanji just nods. He knows slaves don’t have any more value to Judge than simple objects. It’s why his family is so quick to just kill them…

“I will talk to Trafalgar,” Sanji says now to excuse himself and Judge nods again.

“Be there at dinner,” he says, then they all pass Sanji, whatever they are all doing now without him. Even when he tries to fit in, he’s the outcast of the family, but Sanji doesn’t mind that anymore. At least most of the time.

He doesn’t even want to know what his family is up to.


	13. Chapter 13

Sanji assumes Law moved his patient to his room to treat him. It makes sense not to let him stay on the ground, lying in his own blood and since Sanji didn’t specify where to keep Zoro - locked up in a cell for example - Law can easily let him stay there until he has had his rest. Or until a Vinsmoke tells him otherwise.

So he takes the shortest way to Law’s medical room. The ravenhaired will probably still be in the midst of the treatment, but Sanji has to try and help somehow. Or at least he wants to know if Zoro is gonna survive it, because if he doesn’t…

Sanji remembers. He remembers all of it, even though he let Zoro believe he doesn’t. Sanji thought it’s better that way, because even though the prince saved his life once when they were kids, doesn’t mean he can do it again. This is far more complicated than that.

When he opens the door to Law’s room and storms inside, he comes to a sudden stop, after he spots the green hair.

Zoro is indeed lying on his stomach on a table, his back facing the ceiling so Law and his assistants - Penguin and Shachi, as far as Sanji remembers - are able to treat his back. It still didn’t stop bleeding, but now the wounds seem to be more visible. Maybe because the lighting here is much better and the doctors can actually see what they are doing.

It looks truly horrible, it’s like something tried to claw its way through Zoro. He’s pale and Sanji can’t even make out if Zoro is still breathing, but he has to be. Law is still working on him.

Even though the ravenhaired turns around as soon as the door opens. His hands are bloody and he is holding a wet piece of cloth, probably to clean out Zoro’s wounds, but when his gaze lands on Sanji, his face darkens and he throws the cloth back to one of his assistants.  
  
“No”, he says matter-of-factly and takes a threatening step in Sanji’s direction. “No! Out of here, now!”

Sanji raises his arms, but he doesn’t withdraw. “I just want to help, maybe I can-”

“I said no!” Law hisses and the prince doesn’t understand why the ravenhaired is reacting like this. He is more than angry for some reason. “Don’t show your face to me!”

“What…? Law, I-” Sanji begins but Law shoves him back, getting some of Zoro’s blood from his hands on Sanji’s white shirt.

“No! You don’t get to call me that anymore! You are a damn liar! I trusted you, believed what you told me, that you want to do better! Is this what you talked about?! Do you really think this will help you to fit in with your sick family?!”

“Law…!” One of his assistants gasps, shock written all over his face. Judge would kill him, if he heard him talking like that. 

It’s definitely not like Law to explode like this. Slowly but surely Sanji understands what this is about though. Yonji told Law as well. He claimed that Sanji is the one who tortured Zoro.

“Law, I’m here to help..!” Sanji tries to calm the doctor down, but the ravenhaired still shoves him, clearly furious.

“I don’t want to hear it! You lied to me! You fucking lied to me and took advantage of my sympathy for you! I can’t believe, you-”

Sanji catches his wrists and tries to get his attention. “I didn’t lie. Please, Law, I didn’t do this…!”

The blonde can see how overwhelmed his two assistants are. They continue to treat Zoro’s back, because they can’t just let him bleed out, while Law and Sanji figure out their fight, but they keep sending worried glances to both of them. Even though they don’t dare to interrupt.

Law rips his hands out of Sanji’s grip and shoots him a murderous look. “Why should I trust a Vinsmoke?!”

This hits deeper than Sanji wants to admit, but he tries not to show it. He has to keep calm and try to reason with Law somehow.

“You trusted me before…” Sanji’s voice is quiet and calm, but he is also pleading. “Please… I just want to help him. Let me help him…!”

Law watches Sanji carefully with distrust in his eyes, but then he takes a step back. “There is nothing you can do to help. Wait outside while we take care of your slave. We talk later.”

Sanji bites his lip, but he nods. If Law says there is nothing he can do… he has to trust him and wait, even though he feels pretty useless like this. He doesn’t like the way Law says ‘your slave’ though. 

“His name is Zoro,” Sanji tells him, but he doesn’t wait for an answer, instead he just turns around and leaves the room, like Law told him to. The second time today, but he is no doctor… He wouldn’t know what to do.

Leaning against the wall outside, next to the door, Sanji has a lot of time to think. He thinks about what he could have done differently to prevent this from happening. He feels responsible, because he really thought just putting him with the other slaves and giving strict orders not to let his brothers near him, would keep Yonji in check. Of course it didn’t. Yonji is used to get what he wants, even if it means taking it by force. And Judge doesn’t stop him, usually.

But Sanji soon realizes that it doesn’t change anything, thinking about that, so instead his thoughts wander to Law and why he might have been so angry. Sure, Yonji has told him Sanji did that to Zoro, but it looked like Law took it more than personal. 

Sanji remembers a little of what Law told him about his past. It wasn’t much, Law likes to keep to himself and he isn’t exactly open with this stuff, but he realized that Sanji is in a bad place with his family. That he doesn’t even want to be here and that his father expects him to do things, that… aren’t pretty.

He remembers Law telling him that he was in a similar situation with his family. Or with his uncle at least. His uncle is a horrible person, as far as Sanji understood. Manipulative, arrogant and sadistic. Being part of his family means being protected, but also that everyone’s morals are decided by him and if you don’t follow his orders and rules, you’re a traitor.

Law came here a little over three months ago, because he had to flee from his uncle's reach. Sanji is just sorry, he ended up in a place that’s probably not even remotely better than the place he left. Except for the fact that Law doesn’t get involved as much anymore, because it’s not _his_ family.

Sanji sighs. Law probably trusted him enough to share this information with him, because Sanji is in a similar situation with his family. But now Law assumes instead of fighting his family, Sanji is submitting to them. 

And the prince can’t even blame him. He is holding back, staying in the background as much as possible. He usually doesn’t take any slaves, he doesn’t take part in discussions about politics. He doesn’t show interest in taking any leading role in the kingdom, because he _knows_ that there is no way his father won’t check twice, what Sanji is doing then. He can’t help anyone when his father is keeping watch all the time. 

So he just… doesn’t do anything. He tries to avoid his father’s anger, playing his role as one of the Vinsmoke children, but it’s not helping anyone but himself.

He can’t even help his own slave. Instead he is just watching him suffer by the pain that his brother inflicted on him. Law is right. It’s not better than hurting Zoro himself…

Sanji slides down the wall and his hands grip his own hair, tugging slightly in frustration and anger over himself. What is he even doing?! Hiding behind his act that even Zoro was able to see through…

It’s not really surprising that Law decided not to trust him. Sanji really likes to say he wants to help others, but is he actually doing anything useful?

He can pretend all he wants, but in the end of the day, he’s just a coward. He doesn’t stand up to his family like Law did, he doesn’t change anything. Maybe Law will be able to save Zoro this time, but what about next time? What about the next Zoro, the slave after him? Judge won’t stop now, Sanji will not be able to hide forever.

The prince doesn’t notice, when the door next to him opens, but he quickly raises his head, when he catches a glimpse of Law’s shoes as the doctor steps outside and closes the door behind him.

For a moment they just look at each other. Sanji is a little unsure of what to do, if he should stand up or just… stay where he is, while Law just seems to observe him. Unlike before he doesn’t show his emotion on his face anymore, so Sanji has no idea what Law is thinking.

But then Law sighs and holds out his hand. A little surprised Sanji takes it and Law helps him up to his feet, then he lets go again.

“How is-...?” Sanji starts but Law already knows what he is going to ask.

“He is fine. He’s lost a lot of blood and we still have to be careful that none of the wounds get infected, but he should be getting better soon. **IF** he is getting the rest he desperately needs. He’s close to his limit, physically.”

Sanji nods. He understands that but he is not sure how much rest Zoro will be granted with Sanji’s father around. But… he has to try his best and help Zoro. He can at least get him more time to recover, that’s the least he can do.

“He’s not…” Sanji starts again, but he stops in the middle of his sentence himself this time. Still Law seems to guess what he is trying to say.

“He’s not conscious, no.” Law shakes his head. “And he probably won’t be for at least some hours. It’s best not to move him either.”

Again Sanji just nods. That means not taking him with him to his room. Even though it’s probably the safest place for him right now, since Yonji wouldn’t dare to show up in Sanji’s private rooms just to mess with his slave again. That’s something even Judge wouldn’t allow.

“Can you… keep an eye on him?” Sanji asks him, even though he feels like he doesn’t have the right to voice such a request. It has been _his_ responsibility and he failed miserably.

But Law agreed: “Sure, it’s my job anyway. And it’s not like I have any other patients to treat at the moment.”

“Thank you…”

Sanji is really glad that there is at least some sort of protection so Yonji doesn’t try to end what he started and kill Zoro. The prince is sure his brother took notice of Zoro even more, now that Sanji has made it pretty obvious he wants Zoro alive. It’s probably like an invitation for Yonji.

“I’m sorry,” Law suddenly apologizes and Sanji blinks a few times.

“What?”

Law raises an eyebrow, but continues anyway: “It doesn’t suit me to get emotional like that or to jump to conclusions. But I also do not know you that well.”

Sanji is very confused, but he assures him either way: “It’s okay… I get it, I’m a Vinsmoke, so there is alway some kind of risk and suspicion involved.” He understands that and he doesn’t blame him.

Law doesn’t say anything, he just looks at Sanji again, observing him silently until he turns around again. He’s about to step into the room again, when he stops and says: “I suggest that you also take the time to rest. I will be informing you if anything changes, but I do think some sleep would help you.”

“You sure know what you’re talking about,” Sanji mutters sarcastically, but Law does hear it and he actually seems to be amused about it. Still he doesn’t say anything further, instead he vanishes inside again.

Sanji stares at the door for a moment. Zoro is there, heavily injured and unconscious because Sanji didn’t know how to keep him safe. Because he didn’t know what to do with a personal slave that doesn’t involve heavy labour that probably hurt him even more.

God, Sanji is terrible.


	14. Chapter 14

Zoro wakes up from a noise in his room. At first he tries to ignore it, get some more sleep, but the noise doesn’t stop and it’s really annoying. The more he focuses on it, the better he can hear it. Someone is tapping his fingers against wood, probably a table.

Zoro cracks an eye open, but the sudden light blinds him and he blinks a few times, scowling. After his eyes adjusted to it, he slowly sits up and a groan escapes his lips, but he stops, when suddenly there is a loud thud and a pained noise.

When he looks over to the other side of the room, he can see a guy with a weird hat lying on the floor next to the chair he has probably been sitting on. He rubs his head and looks up to Zoro.

“You’re awake!”, he notices and gets up quickly again. “Sorry, you surprised me.”

“Who are you?” Zoro asks, not paying much attention to the other’s excuse. He looks around in confusion. He doesn’t know this room, but if he had to guess, he’d say he is still behind the castle’s walls. Still, he is surprised to even sleep in a real bed, even though his back still burns like hell and every move sends spiking pain through his entire body, especially the places where the whip has hit him. He can still feel the echo of the burning pain.

“My name is Penguin. I’m one of Law’s assistants,” the other man answers now and reaches for the chair. “How are you?”

“I’m not dead,” Zoro scoffs dryly and he would cross his arms, but he feels like that’s not gonna help his pain. “How long did I sleep?”

“Four days.”

That would explain his stomach ache. He really needs some food and probably some water too. But he almost doubts that he will get some this easily. He also doesn’t trust this Penguin.

The other one steps closer now and kneels down next to Zoro. “How’s the pain?”

“It hurts,” Zoro answers truthfully, but without giving away much information. He keeps a straight face, not showing the pain he is in, even though Penguin can probably imagine. Zoro is not gonna show him weakness, doctor or no doctor.

Penguin seems to realize that Zoro doesn’t plan on cooperating much and sighs, then he gets up again. “I will inform Law, he might want to check up on you. And he’s gonna bring some food for sure. You need to build up your strength again.”

“Sure…” Zoro replies simply, even though he sees the irony in this. They want him to build up his strength, so they can continue to beat him down. He knows the drill already. But there is one question forming in his mind: “Where is the blonde?”

He remembers the blonde kneeling down next to him. He looked rather devastated for someone claiming to not remember their connection as kids. Devastated for someone claiming not to care.

Penguin looks surprised, but if he is curious about Zoro’s question, he keeps it to himself. Instead he admits: “I don’t know. You’re in Law’s hands for now, as long as you’re recovering.”

Zoro doesn’t know if he is relieved to hear that, because that probably means that this guy Yonji won’t bother him for a little bit and he actually might have time for his wounds to heal. But it also means that he can’t talk to Curly-Brow, at least not now, as much as he might want to. He feels like there are still a lot of things left unsaid between the two of them. 

Penguin watches Zoro for a moment, then he makes his way over to the door and Zoro leans back a little, even though it stings when his back makes contact with the pillow. He really hates this feeling.

It’s not just the pain itself. He can manage that. It’s not the first time, he has been wounded that badly, he has a lot of scars that tell the story.

But he hates that it’s his back. 

There is nothing he can do about it now though, so he just sighs and closes his eyes. Maybe the sleep really has been necessary, at least he actually got some rest for once. He still feels totally exhausted.

It takes some time, but then Penguin comes back with Law, the doctor Zoro already had the pleasure to meet, when he first arrived here. The ravenhaired steps closer to the bed as well now.

“I really didn’t hope to see you this soon again, but I can’t say I’m surprised,” Law starts and Zoro almost laughs at that. Sarcastically of course.

“Believe me, I’m not happy about it either,” Zoro responds and rolls his eyes. “Curse this other greenhaired bastard!”

Law looks at him with a glint in his eyes that Zoro doesn’t quite understand, but it’s gone just the other moment and Law instructs Zoro to turn around on his stomach again. Zoro doesn’t really like exposing his back after what happened, so he is reluctant to do so, but after all it’s Law’s job to help him, so he complies and turns around hissing quietly. 

“I will get you something for the pain after we’re through and-,” Law starts, but Zoro shakes his head and interrupts him: “No, I don’t need it. I can take it. I want to feel the pain.” He doesn’t trust herbs that eases the pain. The pain helps him remember that he is still alive and as long as he is alive, he has to fight. He learned that lesson the hard way.

If Law is surprised, he doesn’t show it and just nods. “There is also the possibility of treating your wound with magic, of course,” he says and Zoro looks up to him skeptical.

“You know magic?” It is rare but not entirely impossible. Zoro heard about some doctors that are even specialized in using their magic to cure others. But healing magic is incredibly hard to control and most mages aren’t even able to use their magic that way. It’s a lot easier to destroy than to heal.

But Zoro doesn’t know a lot about this anyway. He’s not able to use magic, he was born without it like most people. And maybe he was even lucky because of it. 

Law hesitates for a moment, but then he nods. “I’m not well versed in healing magic though. There are other ways how magic can be useful in treating others than magically closing their wounds. I can’t speed up your healing process.” He starts removing the bandages to reveal his back once again. The pain is bearable as long as he doesn’t move around too much. Which he isn’t supposed to do anyway.

“So what are you suggesting?” Zoro asks now and raises an eyebrow.

“There are other mages in this castle. One of them might be able to help you with the pain at least.”

“I doubt that they are even allowed to treat me,” Zoro scoffs and shakes his head. “I’m a slave, Judge doesn’t waste resources like that. Especially not magic....” He clenches his hands to fists and a dark look covers his face. Law doesn’t ask and Zoro is glad for it.

“You have a point,” he responds instead and drops the topic. Instead he continues to treat Zoro in silence, changing his bandages. When he is done he steps back and gives Zoro another look-over.

“It wasn’t Sanji-ya, was it?” he suddenly asks and Zoro, who has turned around groaning quietly, stops for a moment and looks at Law in surprise and confusion.

“What?”

“He didn’t... hit you?” Law specifies and Zoro shakes his head. 

“No. He stopped Yonji.”

Law looks.. almost relieved to hear that and it makes Zoro curious. Does Law know the blonde? Personally? But before he can ask about the nature of their relationship, Law speaks again: “Your back looks worse than it actually is. You will keep some scars, but the wounds will heal quickly and good.” Zoro grimaces at that. It’s good that they will not restrict him and that he hasn’t been hurt worse, but... the scars... 

Law doesn’t pay attention to Zoro’s discomfort and instead he continues: “Only your blood loss has been worrisome, so you better drink a lot and concentrate on recovering.”

“I’m not supposed to work in the basement again?” Zoro asks a little surprised. He has been out cold for days and they don’t force him to work as soon as he wakes up? That’s... unusual.

“I don’t know what Sanji-ya plans to do with you from here on...” Law shrugs, ignoring the way Zoro tenses at the choice of words. “But he told me to make sure, you will recover as quickly as possible, so you stay here for now.”

There is a knock at the door and Law turns around, before opening the door. Zoro can’t see who it is, but apparently it doesn’t really matter, because the exchange is quick.

“Ah, perfect timing.” Law nods as he receives something, then Zoro can hear the door click shut again, while Law steps closer to Zoro again, handing him a bowl with soup. It is still steaming hot. “Eat something. You really need it after four days of sleeping.”

Zoro takes the bowl and he doesn’t hesitate and starts eating. He’s really hungry and won’t turn down food. And Law seems to be a good guy, as far as Zoro can tell. He doesn’t entirely trust him yet, but it seems like he really wants to help.

“Since there is nothing more that I can do for you now, I will tend to other patients now,” Law says and Zoro just nods. “Someone will be bringing you some water later,” the doctor adds. “Make sure you drink as much as possible. Your body needs the fluid.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Zoro grumbles. He feels like a child being reminded to behave and it makes him grumpy. He’s not a child. That’s why he doesn’t like doctors... They all act so high and mighty. He’s half aware that he’s probably exaggerating though.

But Law doesn’t really seem to care if Zoro follows his advice, he can’t do much more than warn Zoro.

Soon Law leaves the room and Zoro can hear him locking the door. He probably has to make sure Zoro doesn’t try and escape, otherwise he would probably be in trouble.

Zoro empties the bowl and sets it down next to the bed on the nightstand. Then he experimentally rolls his shoulders, hissing slightly at the burning sensation that spreads over his back. It hurts but it’s bearable. He could probably stand up, even though he shouldn’t. But he was never good in following orders anyway. There is just one exception..

So Zoro tries to get up from the bed. It takes him a while though, because it does hurt more than anticipated and when he gets up on his feet, his knees threaten to buckle again, so he has to steady himself, gripping the bedpost. 

He curses silently. How he hates this feeling... He’s not weak! The pain is nothing, he should be able to take it. So he forces himself to straighten up and walks over to the door on still unsteady feet. It still hurts but each step seems to get easier for him to take.

When he arrives at the door he pushes down the knob, but he was right. Law locked it. He might be able to destroy the door and break it open, but he would probably risk more injuries and he doesn’t want to pull his stitches if there is another way out. 

Next he checks the windows. He can open them but when he looks out, he realizes, he’s on the second floor. Jumping from this high up is not really an option, since he can’t escape with two broken legs. 

Climbing down seems possible but risky as well, especially since he didn’t regain full body control yet. He would have to wait until he recovered further before trying to climb down the castle walls.

His attention moves over to familiar figures in the courtyard and he watches as Judge and his sons get into a carriage. Sanji is missing, as is his sister as far as he can tell. A servant closes the door to the carriage and soon after it starts driving towards the gate, leaving castle grounds. Wherever they are going, it is the perfect opportunity for an escape. Zoro knows the most powerful fighters in this castle are the Vinsmoke themselves, no matter how much Judge praises his guards for being perfect soldiers, because they bend to his every will. With them gone Zoro might even have a chance. 

He turns around far too quickly when he can hear the door being unlocked. Is Law already back? Maybe he should try and overpower him, even though that would probably get the doctor into trouble for allowing him to escape the room. 

But when the door opens it’s not Law that appears in the doorway.

“Hyun?” Zoro looks at the whitehaired slave in surprise. “What are you doing here?” The other slave closes the door behind him. He carries a jug in his hands, probably the water Law mentioned earlier. 

Hyun raises an eyebrow and puts the jug down at the nightstand. “Shouldn’t you be resting in bed?” he returns the question. Zoro scoffs and crosses his arms infront of his chest.

“I survived a lot worse than that. These wounds won’t tie me down.”

“I figured as much.” A small smile appears on Hyun’s lips, but he gestures to the bed. “At least sit down for a moment, will you? And drink something.”

Zoro grumbles something incomprehensible, but he follows Hyun’s suggestion and sits down at the edge of the bed. He doesn’t bother asking for a cup, instead he takes the whole jug and downs it pretty quickly. He didn’t notice how thirsty he has been before.

“How are you?” Hyun asks with a worried frown. “What happened to you? I thought they killed you or something.”

“Well, that damn Vinsmoke certainly put a lot of effort in trying,” Zoro scoffs again after putting down the jug. “My back feels like he cut it up a thousand times..” He scowls and clenches his fist.

“Damn... But you’re lucky you survived that.”

Zoro just shrugs at that. He doesn’t feel very lucky, he just has great stamina and willpower. “I can’t die yet. I have a promise to keep.” Zoro looks back to the window, where he watched the royal family leave. Without Sanji. “Actually, I have two.”

Hyun doesn’t ask about it, even though his curiosity is written all over his face. Instead he says: “There was a message in the barn a few days ago.”

At first Zoro looks at him confused and frowns. What the hell does he mean? But then it clicks. “With the bag of food..??” Was that message possibly from Sanji? “What did it say?”

“That as soon as you wake up, one of us will be assigned to take care of you and that the mysterious stranger will make sure that we have an escape route.”

Zoro blinks. “He told us.. to escape?”

Hyun shrugs and admits: “I’m not sure if it’s legit, but it seems that way. Maybe it’s just someone toying with us, but why the food? Why help us and then send us into a trap?”

Hyun is right and if that messenger really **is** Sanji... then this is probably the truth as well. His brothers have left the castle, it is the perfect opportunity, didn’t Zoro think so earlier already? Too good to be true... or to be a coincidence.

Zoro gets up on his feet again, this time far more steady than before. Especially since he took the advice and did drink something. “Then what are we waiting for? We wouldn’t want to miss the window where the Vinsmokes are gone, right?”

Hyun gives him a curt nod, even though it looks like something is still on his mind. But he seems to decide, he’s not gonna say anything and instead head for the doors, Zoro behind him. 

Even though the royal family left the castle, they are still careful not to be caught by any guards, but they actually don’t meet that many anyway. Zoro has a feeling that they have to thank Sanji for that as well. 

They already reached the ground floor already, when Zoro suddenly stops. “We can’t go yet,” he says and Hyun turns around to him with wide eyes. 

“Are you serious? We’re almost outside!”

“I won’t go without my swords,” Zoro insists and his tone makes clear this is not up for discussion. “And I have a promise to keep.”

Hyun stares at him in disbelief, then he lets out a frustrated groan. “Why didn’t you say so earlier??”

Zoro shrugs. “I thought we were heading to the weaponry or something. Look, you can go on without me, I will follow you later.” He understands that Hyun doesn’t want to stay here any second longer than necessary, especially since he finally has a way out. So Zoro won’t keep him here, he can find his swords on his own.

Hyun sighs deeply. “Okay, so what is this promise, you are talking about?”

Zoro’s facial expression hardens and he clenches his fist, looking up to Hyun with a stern look. 

“I’m gonna get the blonde prince out of here.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Instead of leaving like Sanji expects him to, the swordsman decides to go back and take the prince with him. But the prince strangely isn't too excited about that idea. Their heated argument soon turns heated in a very different way.

Finding his swords has been relatively easy, the weaponry hasn’t been far and they just put them with the other swords into a barrel, as if they are just another piece of forged metal. Idiots…

Hyun seems to know his way around the castle, despite arriving here at the same time as Zoro and only has been working underground, which seems a little suspicious but Zoro is not gonna question his help. Especially because the time is running. They won’t sneak around here unnoticed for long.

Zoro feels a lot better with his swords on his hip, even though his wounds will probably still cause him trouble if they end up getting into a fight, but as far as Zoro is concerned with the Vinsmokes gone there are only the small fish left. And they are fairly easy to handle.

He doesn’t understand why Sanji is willing to stay here. Zoro is very aware of the fact that Sanji grew strong over all that time, he proved it already. It is the perfect chance for him to get away. Instead, he sent Hyun to get to Zoro. He isn’t planning on leaving and Zoro needs to know why. There isn’t anything holding the blonde here! Certainly not his family. Or maybe it is exactly what’s holding him, but Zoro will make sure Sanji knows they aren’t going to hurt him anymore.

He didn’t expect Hyun to accompany him, but he is glad for it because otherwise he would have had no idea where to go. He wouldn’t get lost, of course, he doesn’t, but it would have been harder to find the royal rooms.

They stop in front of the door to Sanji’s room. “I will wait here,” Hyun whispers. “Just in case someone is coming.”

Zoro nods and pushes down the doorknob, sliding in quietly. Maybe he should knock, but he can’t be sure that Sanji is alone. He’s not even sure, Sanji is here.

But only seconds later he dismisses that thought, when his gaze falls on the exposed back of the prince. His muscles flex as he pulls the shirt over his head to undress and Zoro is met with a wave of feelings he didn’t expect. His face grows hot and suddenly his mouth is dry and he doesn’t know how to let Sanji know he’s here. 

He notices the scars on Sanji’s back, nothing like the one’s Zoro has, nothing caused by whiplashes, but he still must have had his fair share of wounds in the past. It doesn’t really surprise Zoro, he saw how Judge treated his own son back then, but it only deepens his resolve to get Sanji out of here.

The blonde steps to a bowl filled with water, his back still turned to Zoro, and he soaks a towel, then rubs it over his neck. Zoro watches as some drops of water run down the other’s back. He is so focused, he doesn’t notice Sanji turning until a surprised yelp interrupts him. Water splashes and the bowl clatters to the floor when Sanji takes a step back and hits the little table. He stares at Zoro in surprise.

“What the hell are you doing here??”

“I… I am here to get you,” Zoro finally manages to speak and he clears his throat. What the hell is he thinking? They have to get out of here! “We have to hurry!”

Sanji’s eyes widen in surprise and shock. “Wh- No! God, why didn’t you escape already? Are you insane?! My family isn’t gone that long!”

“Did you really think I would just run away?” Zoro crosses his arms and his brow furrows. Sanji lets out a frustrated noise and steps closer to Zoro, grabbing his shoulders and turning him around, then he tries to push the greenhaired man towards the door.

“Yes, and you should! Did you forget what happened to you only days ago?? Why would you _stay_ here!” 

“I could ask you the same,” Zoro says bluntly and Sanji stops in his tracks. The Marimo looks over his shoulder, not quite turning around yet.

“What-...” Sanji’s voice is barely a whisper and he hates it, but he is at a loss for words. He can’t possibly answer that right now. “Why do you even care? I’m a royal, a Vinsmoke. You’re a slave. Why do you risk your freedom for _this_? I’m not in danger, _you_ are!”

Zoro does turn around now, facing Sanji who takes a step almost involuntarily. Being so close… it does weird things to him, especially right now when Sanji is almost begging Zoro to leave. His family could be back at any moment.

But Zoro isn’t planning on leaving now, his expression is serious and set. “I wasn’t able to keep my promise back then, but I intend to do it now.”

It looks like these words physically hit Sanji because he gasps and takes another step back. He stares at Zoro with wide eyes and while he is still anxious and worried, a warm feeling is blooming in his chest and it feels like his heart is beating a little bit faster. He remembered that…?

“We… we were kids..” Sanji slowly shakes his head, he can’t believe this is why Zoro came back. “I didn’t expect you to… I was trying so hard to make you hate me, I don’t understand. Why would you still hold onto that promise? You don’t know me anymore, I’m not the same kid as I was back then.”

“No, you’ve changed,” Zoro agrees and nods. “You’re stronger now, but you’re still not a Vinsmoke. You don’t belong here.”

Again Sanji doesn’t know what to say. This guy is unbelievable. The blonde stares at him and the only thing that is leaving his mouth now is insults: “You’re crazy… You’re crazy and stupid and thick-headed! Idiot! I _can’t_ leave!”

“Why?” Zoro presses and he’s growing more impatient now. “If you’re afraid of what they will do, you’re not alone anymore. I will slice them up if necessary, I-”

“I’m not afraid!” Sanji almost seems insulted by the claim. “I can kick their asses myself, thank you very much, that’s not the reason I-”

Some noise outside gathers his attention and he doesn’t finish his sentence. Instead, he rushes to the window to take a look outside. Then he curses. 

“They’re back.” Zoro’s face hardens and his hand moves to his swords.

“Doesn’t matter. We still have time to go,” he says and Sanji turns back to him frowning.

“You’re right..” It only takes him a few steps to come close to Zoro and put a hand on his chest to try and push him back again. “You still have time, so hurry…!”

Zoro grabs Sanji’s hand, unintentionally pulling him towards his chest, but they both don’t seem to notice how close they are. On the other hand, Sanji is fully aware of the intense gaze directed at him. Zoro isn’t scared for his life, even though he probably should be with the Vinsmoke coming back and his chances of escape slowly reducing to none. He should be traumatized by all the beatings he took, the torture he endured.

But when Sanji meets his gaze, he doesn’t see a broken man. On the contrary, he sees such firm determination that he is almost willing to give in, to follow Zoro out of this hell and to wherever the Marimo wants to take him.

But he remembers himself. “If you don’t go now, I have to restrain you and send you back to your cell,” Sanji warns him in a low voice. It’s not a threat, but he is serious. If Zoro doesn’t take this chance now, Sanji would lock him up again. He stares at Zoro as intensely as the swordsman looks at him. 

Then Zoro suddenly smirks. “Well, I guess then you better do that now, because I am not going without you, Curly-Brow.”

Sanji moves first, but even though he is fast, Zoro matches his speed when drawing his sword. In a blink of an eye, it is over, both freezing in their spot. Sanji has grabbed Zoro by the collar and his foot is raised head high, positioned at the wall he pushed the swordsman against. At the same time, Zoro has raised his Wado Ichimonji, the blade now dangerously close to Sanji’s neck. Still, he managed not to cut Sanji, even though there has been very little space between them in the first place to position his sword.

He shouldn’t have underestimated Zoro. 

“I can’t understand,” Sanji starts, not moving an inch and still staring at Zoro intensely. “How can you throw away your freedom like this? Just because of a debt, a promise made when we were kids?”

“I’m serious about promises,” Zoro answers, and the blonde lets out a hollow laugh.

“Yeah, I can see that.”

“But it’s more than that,” the swordsman continues. “I know you’re hurting too. Whatever holds you here, you don’t like to see how these slaves are treated, that’s why you leave food with them every night.”

“That’s-” Sanji stops, trying to come up with a response, but it’s too late to deny it anyway. “What does that have to do with you?” he asks instead.

“Luffy would like you.”

Before Sanji can ask what the hell Zoro is talking about, the door suddenly bursts open and multiple guards storm the room, weapons drawn. They stop immediately when they see the blade at the blonde’s neck. 

“Let go of the prince!” one of the guards barks and a wicked grin spreads on Zoro’s face.

“If you don’t want the prince hurt, you better make way for me.” This threat visibly shocks the guards. They are not sure what to do, because they certainly can’t let the slave get away with the prince, but if something happened to Sanji, Judge would make them all responsible for it.

“You’re quite delusional,” Sanji suddenly says and he raises an eyebrow. “Do you think you have me pinned down?”

Again both of them move so fast, the guards can’t quite catch what is happening, but suddenly Zoro’s back hits the ground and Sanji is above him, sitting on Zoro’s legs and pinning down both of Zoro’s arms with his knees. He leans forward, supporting his weight by putting a hand down on the swordsman’s chest. 

“This is how you do it right.”

“Impressive,” Zoro has to admit, but he doesn’t sound worried or tense. Instead there is this smug face again, this smirk that slowly drives Sanji insane. “This makes the thought of being chained up by you almost exciting.”

Sanji’s eyes widen in shock and for a moment he forgets how to breathe. Some of the guards inhale sharply, but Zoro uses this moment of utter perplexity to break his arms free from under Sanji. He turns his hip, using the momentum to roll both of them around, so suddenly it’s Zoro who is pinning down the prince with his arms over his head. 

“I have to admit, I didn’t expect that…” Sanji sighs in defeat. He gained his posture a little too fast for Zoro’s liking. This tension between them is much different now than it was before and the swordsman is sure Sanji can feel it too. He’s not sure what changed, maybe the fact that Zoro knows he didn’t lose his friend from back then, maybe it is because Sanji finally has been honest with Zoro. He isn’t pretending anymore.

Whatever it is, it’s quite exciting, despite their tricky situation. Fighting like this is something entirely different than Zoro is used to, but he’s certainly not complaining. 

They both also seem to have completely forgotten about the Vinsmokes.

The reminder comes with some kind of invisible force that hits Zoro with immense power and throws him back against the stone wall, away from Sanji. He gasps as he drops back onto the floor, trying to catch his breath that has been knocked out of him.

“Get back!” someone barks an order and the guards quickly withdraw and make room for Ichiji.

The redhaired’s gaze is fixated on Zoro and he is raising his hand. A pressure, similar to the force before and just as invisible, is weighing Zoro down and he grunts, trying to fight against it. But it’s no use.

Ichiji turns to the blonde, his hand still raised. “Are you okay?”

“Don’t give me that crap,” Sanji hisses and gets up. “I had it under control, I didn’t need your help.”

“Obviously,” Ichiji says dryly, then he turns back to Zoro and seems to increase the pressure because Zoro is pressed harder against the floor and he groans painfully.

“Okay, stop it!” Sanji grabs Ichiji’s arm and pulls it down. He can hear Zoro gasp and cough, but he is staring at his brother. “You embarrass me. I’m not weak, I could have handled it.”

Ichiji’s eyes narrow at Sanji. “Sure, so you were just enjoying your time then, pinned beneath this brute?”

Sanji knows he doesn’t mean it that way, but he feels his blood boil for a very different reason, when his heart seems to answer faster than his head, whispering: _‘You’re not wrong…’_

But instead he says: “I wasn’t losing! He’s-”

“Stop it now!” a voice interrupts both of them as Judge enters the room as well. Suddenly it’s very quiet. “What happened?” The question is directed at Sanji.

The blonde looks at Zoro and for a second their eyes meet again. Zoro looks as determined as before and Sanji immediately knows what the idiot is planning. He notices how now that the Marimo is released from the magic that kept him in place, his hands slowly reached for one of his swords. Sanji silently warns him, tries to tell him he should just stay there, but they both know at the same time that Zoro won’t listen.

Zoro knows the blonde prince sees right through it, but it doesn’t keep him from leaping up at a speed that seems almost impossible for a human being. He is fixating on the King and the only warning is the short moment when the sunlight reflects on the blade. His sword is drawn before anyone can react.

Well, anyone but one.

Before the blade can reach Judge, Sanji has moved as well, stopping the sword with one foot. How he doesn’t hurt or cut himself is a mystery but he pushes the sword back with force, letting Zoro stumble backward, even though the swordsman almost expected Sanji to interrupt him. 

He just doesn’t have a clue as to _why_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! ♥ If you liked the chapter and want to encourage me, you're very welcome to leave a comment 🥰
> 
> Follow my [ Insta profile](https://www.instagram.com/shiggy20002/) for more information about future updates, new projects, and more! You can additionally or alternatively follow my [ Twitter account](https://twitter.com/shiggy20002) as well!


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zoro's attempt in slicing Judge in half fails due to interference by a certain blonde. Thankfully Judge is not that resentful and is willing to overlook the swordsman's disobedience as long as he doesn't escape a second time.
> 
> And it does look like Zoro won't get a chance like this again in the near future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This includes more flirting than I had planned...

It was a good try, but that was all it was. A try. Because as soon as Sanji has stopped his blade, he jumps, kicks his other leg up, and hits Zoro’s hand. The sword clatters to the floor.

The moment is over because now the guards are moving, gripping his shoulders painfully and restraining him again.

Zoro knows he is probably strong enough to break free, despite his injuries, but he doesn’t. Sanji isn’t going to follow him and he isn’t going without Sanji, so they had some sort of situation. Because he knows Sanji doesn’t want him to stay.

Zoro doesn’t really mind. It has been painful, yes, degrading and awful, but he can take it, he knows he can. So he doesn’t even consider running away.

He’s just sorry for Hyun. He hopes the white-haired was able to slip past the guards when they arrived but the lack of a warning - even though Hyun stayed on guard - suggests that Hyun has been captured as well. He probably regrets helping Zoro by now.

Zoro is forced to his knees, his swords taken from him a second time. He lets out a low growl, they hopefully treat them better this time, for their own sake. The guard that took the swords almost trips on his way out when he feels the intimidating gaze of the swordsman in his back.

“Do you really think, I’m gonna let you kill my father?” Sanji speaks up and Zoro is distracted from the other guard that leaves with his katana. Instead, Zoro looks up to the blonde, his eyes as cold and sans emotion as Sanji’s. They are both very good at hiding behind a mask it appears, even though they are both fully aware of the other’s true feelings by now. More or less.

“I thought I might at least give it a try,” Zoro replies. He inhales sharply when Sanji kicks him in his abdomen and he hunches over in pain. He does have damn strong legs.

Sanji catches him by his hair, digging his fingers into it and jerking his head up again, so Zoro is forced to look at him.

“You really are a challenge, are you?” Sanji raises an eyebrow. “You’re nothing more than an untrained pet, but you sure as hell don’t care about your punishment for misbehaving.”

He turns to one of the guards. “Bring me a collar and some chains. And make it quick,” he orders. His brother frowns. 

“A collar? Are you aware of-”

“It gives him special status as my personal slave? Yes, of course, I am aware,” Sanji interrupts him and Ichiji clearly doesn’t like it. Zoro can see his fingers twitch. The blonde continues unfazed: “That has been the plan from the start, hasn’t it? And now that he proves this… resistant, it’s gonna be a lot more fun, having him as a pet, don’t you think?”

His gaze falls back to Zoro and a chill runs down his spine, even though he knows it’s a facade, but his eyes are one of a predator. Fuck, he’s good at this. Shockingly so.

It doesn’t seem to be enough to convince Ichiji though, he is still suspicious: “You change your mind quite quickly, little brother. Not even a week ago, you didn’t even want to have a slave.”

“It’s true..” Sanji shrugs. “I didn’t think I'd need one. But this one really lit my fire.” Again, his smile is wicked and Ichiji is clearly surprised by the indications of it, especially after the guard comes back with the collar and the chains, and Sanji orders him to chain the swordsman to the bedpost. 

It renders Ichiji speechless, he almost seems disgusted by the idea of what Sanji could be planning with the greenhaired.

Zoro doesn’t know how to feel, because on the one hand he certainly doesn’t like the feeling of the collar snapping shut around his neck and he most definitely doesn’t like the chain connected to it being fixed on the bedpost. On the other hand, he feels an almost pleasurable chill running down his spine when the blonde’s suggestive voice paints pictures in his mind. After earlier, can you really blame him?

He shakes them off quickly though, instead he stares daggers in Sanji’s skull. 

“I am not a damn pet,” he hisses and tries to rip off the collar. It doesn’t work, even though it’s clearly just leather. These damn Vinsmokes really use magic on these collars too??

It makes sense when Zoro thinks about it. It ensures them obedience since it can’t be taken off without magic and because - depending on which spells are used - it can prove quite painful to try and fight back by pulling on the chain or leaving a certain area.

And of course, Judge isn’t short on magic. 

Sanji ignores him and instead turns to his father when Judge finally raises his voice: “You may keep him as long as you are careful. I don’t want him running around here again. Keep him chained, do you understand?”

“There is no need for him to leave the bed, don’t worry,” Sanji says with a sly smile and this same suggestive tone that brings Ichiji to retch and turn to leave as quickly as possible. Judge doesn’t really seem to mind, which surprises Zoro. But then again, does Judge really care about any personal affairs as long as it doesn’t interfere with his plans?

Whatever plans that might be.

With Ichiji gone and Judge making his way out as well, the guards are following not far behind. They are confident Sanji can take it from here and not at all suspicious of Sanji’s loyalty.

Sanji looks at him the whole time and Zoro stares back. They don’t move, even when the door falls shut behind the last guard and they are alone once again.

Zoro breaks the silence first: “You chained me to the bed…”

“It appears so, yes,” Sanji answers matter-of-factly. He doesn’t seem very interested in changing that either.

“So… are you going to let me go?” Zoro raises an eyebrow and Sanji sighs. He turns to his drawer and takes out a small bag.

“No. I told you, once your chance is gone, I can’t help you anymore,” the blonde replies as he steps in front of Zoro again. “You missed it, now you’re a prisoner again. I’m sorry, but I urged you to go.”

Zoro sighs as well, he can’t really blame the prince. He did warn him. Even though it’s almost naively sweet how he calls him ‘prisoner’ instead of ‘slave’.

The swordsman wants to point out once again that he is not leaving without the blonde. He wants to ask why Sanji is so persistent in staying here. But he already knows the prince is not going to answer this, so instead he asks another question: “Why did you stop me?”

Sanji doesn’t answer that one at first either. He orders Zoro to turn around, so he can look at the swordsman's back and Zoro complies reluctantly. He’s not a fan of talking to someone with his back turned.

“He would have killed you instantly,” Sanji answers while unwrapping Zoro’s bandages. Law probably should do that, but Zoro’s pretty sure it would attract attention if Sanji were to call him now. After all, he is supposed to teach Zoro a lesson, not treat him. “I saved you, you should thank me.”

“Judge?” Zoro scoffs. “He’s not as tough as he appears, I know that. Without his sons as protection, he’s a small fish.”

“Ichiji,” the blonde corrects him. “He would have broken you in half. His magic is strong enough to kill someone in an instant. He could have and he would have killed you if I had reacted a second later.”

Zoro raises an eyebrow, clearly not convinced. “Magic can’t be that strong, you can’t kill someone with magic alone,” he says. “The amount of power that would have to be stored in a human being, would kill anyone.”

“Not the Vinsmokes,” Sanji mutters. “Not my brothers. They are… different. Stronger. I think they are not entirely human.”

“What are you talking about?” Zoro can’t believe what Sanji is saying. It can’t be true. He had been aware that they are strong mages, but this is insane! If they can kill with a single move of the hand-… Fuck.

“My father did something to us-.. them,” the blonde quickly catches himself, but not fast enough that Zoro doesn’t miss the slip-up. Or maybe it came too fast not to notice. But for now, Zoro doesn’t dig deeper. He lets Sanji talk first: “They are different since they were born. Stronger, faster, more resistant. And they can store ten times more magic than an average mage in their own body alone. But it consumes their heart. They enjoy torture not because Judge is a terrible father and trained them to be cold and unloving. They enjoy it because they like the power. Instead of emotions, it’s their strength that defines them.”

“That sounds… dangerous,” Zoro admits carefully. He hisses softly when Sanji starts to clean the wounds on his back with some fresh water in a bowl. Some of the injuries started bleeding again but - as the prince ensures him - none of his deeper wounds reopened. He is lucky.

“It is,” Sanji then comes back to their conversation. “That’s why I tell you, you can’t win against them. Especially not Ichiji. He’s my father’s number one because his potential is the highest and he is most trained with his magic.”

“I’m not gonna thank you for chaining me to your bed though, Curly-Brow,” Zoro changes topics and scoffs, and the blonde tries to hold back a laugh.

“Well, you might thank me later~”

Zoro turns his head and looks at Sanji almost disturbed, even though he knows Sanji is joking. He wouldn’t force himself onto Zoro, otherwise he would have done that already instead of cleaning his wounds. And he’s not a Vinsmoke after all.

“You know, you should invite me to dinner first,” Zoro says and faces the other way again. Sanji chuckles.

It’s different between them now than it was before and Zoro is not quite sure what caused that rapid change, especially since he is still a ‘prisoner’ as Sanji said it. And the prince still has to play a role for his family. It’s probably not the last time, Sanji will have to hurt him in some way, to keep up his cover.

Maybe it’s because Sanji now knows that the swordsman can take it. He’s seen him fight - even though that didn’t really count, Zoro didn’t even draw his swords against Sanji - and he saw what pain Zoro can endure.

And Zoro doesn’t hold him accountable for the things his family forces him to do. The kick to his stomach earlier has almost been gentle compared to what Sanji can probably do. Zoro knows, whatever pain he receives now, it has been his own decision to stay, so he will deal with the consequences.

When Sanji is finished wrapping Zoro up like a birthday present - at least it feels like that, Zoro really hates bandages - the prince gets up on his feet again. Zoro doesn’t move at first, instead he lets the chain connected to the collar slide through his hands in thought. His brows are furrowed.

“Can’t you take this off? I will not try to escape.” Not as long as it would cause trouble for Sanji anyway.

“I know you won’t.” Sanji picks up the bowl, the water now in a pinkish color. He sets it down at his desk and starts to clean the blood from his hands. “For whatever stupid reason, you seem to insist on saving me, when I don’t need saving.”

Zoro wants to protest, but the prince already continues, clearly aware of what the swordsman intended to say: “But I can’t take it off now. It is bound by my brothers’ magic and even if I could break the spell, my brothers will be able to feel it.”

The swordsman looks up to Sanji, clearly bothered by that explanation. “What? This was your suggestion! And now you say you can’t even take it off of me?”

Sanji doesn’t look him in the eye, instead he dries his hands now, staring at the towel. “I told you, you should have escaped. Staying here was a mistake and I can’t help you.”

The swordsman sighs and raises from the ground as well. “I know”, he mutters and he is aware of it. Still... “I just really don’t like being treated like a wild animal.” The chains rattle because of the movement and Zoro clenches his fists. “And the chain really is unnecessary.”

“The way you looked at my father when you were planning to cut his head off clean, I am sure he would disagree,” Sanji replies. He picks up a little bell and rings it, it doesn’t take long until a servant opens the door and looks at him expectantly. Sanji passes him the bowl. “Some fresh water please…”

The servant takes the bowl, nods again - he’s not allowed to say anything - and leaves the room as quickly as he entered it. Zoro watches all this with a raised eyebrow.

“So what am I supposed to do now?” he asks when the servant is gone again, making himself comfortable on the kingsized bed. “Apparently your family thinks, you’re going to enjoy yourself tonight…?”

Sanji stares at the other man with a light blush on his cheeks. “Yes, but I’m not going to- God…”

Zoro starts grinning as if he has planned to get on Sanji’s nerves. Maybe he has, he’s been nothing than a pain in the ass since he arrived here anyway.

“Sleep,” Sanji huffs and shakes his head. “Or do whatever. I still have some business to attend to.” He finally gets to dress fully after Zoro has so rudely interrupted him by trying to save him. 

The greenhaired furrows his brows again. “Are you sure that is smart? Going out so shortly after you exclaimed you would ‘train’ me?”

Now it is Sanji who teases: “Are you worried about yourself or about me?” He doesn’t wait for an answer, however. “None of my brothers, not even Yonji, will dare to enter my room without permission. And with the collar around your neck, it’s believable I’m going to take my time and make… preparations.”

Zoro makes a face and shudders. He doesn’t want to think about the situation he would be in if Sanji wasn’t as kind as he tried to hide.

The prince doesn’t say anything further, instead he turns to the door and heads out. Zoro sighs again and rolls on his stomach, not to lay down on his wounds. Sleep doesn’t sound too bad, maybe he can actually take advantage of the piece for now. 

He has a feeling that it’s going to get worse again. For both him and the prince.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! ♥ If you liked the chapter and want to encourage me, you're very welcome to leave a comment 🥰
> 
> Follow my [ Insta profile](https://www.instagram.com/shiggy20002/) for more information about future updates, new projects, and more! You can additionally or alternatively take a look at my other profiles like Twitter on my [ Linktr.ee](https://linktr.ee/Shiggy20002) as well!


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zoro has been in bed due to the chains around his neck for days now when Sanji finally decides to take him along. Of course they can't leave the castle without walking into a little bit of trouble.
> 
> This trouble has blue hair and a curly eyebrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am actually very proud of this chapter! And I finally know where I am going with this xD
> 
> Updates will be weekly on Wednesday from now on! ^-^

The first week after Zoro’s failed escape, Sanji proves to be a totally different person than what the swordsman has perceived when he first arrived here. The prince is hot-blooded and easily challenged, very much like his brothers, even though the blonde would probably kick his head in if he ever were to say that out loud. Zoro has found his behavior to be cold and menacing before, but only when his family is around. He is putting up a front for them and it becomes so painfully obvious the more Zoro interacts with the guy in the safety of his room.

Away from his family’s prying eyes, his real character is showing. 

Sanji is an annoying bastard, that’s save to say from the way he enjoys teasing the swordsman and his smartass comebacks. But he never touches the issue of Zoro being trapped here, probably because he assumes it’s a touchy subject since the prince himself is partly the reason for that. It doesn’t go unnoticed that Sanji feels responsible for Zoro’s situation, despite saying something different.

Zoro isn’t particularly emotional about it though. He doesn’t like being tied to this bed for days now - the chain provides almost no space to train his sore body, which does bother Zoro, but he finds ways to make sure he doesn’t get out of shape -, but he isn’t overly worried about what might happen to him in the future and if he’d ever escape. He knows he will, he’s still unbroken and time will present an opportunity. For both him and Sanji. He can be a very patient man. And he’ll deal with whatever he has to in the meantime, no use getting anxious about it now.

Nevertheless, Zoro doesn’t miss all the indications that prove the blonde is actually a decent guy. More than that.

Sanji is kind. He has been as a kid when he made sure Zoro would be able to escape. When he lied about it to the guards and when he saved Zoro when Judge attacked. He knew the trouble it would get him in, but he did it anyway.

But Sanji’s kindness goes further than that. It’s the little things, Zoro realizes. The thankful nod whenever a servant brings food, the fact that he stacks the plates when they are finished, so they are easier to pick up. He always tells the servants to give compliments to the cook as well. 

It’s the way Sanji carefully treats Zoro’s wounds regularly - even though they are bickering most of the time and Zoro tells him to just let them heal, no need for bandages - or the way the prince checks Zoro’s neck with a short glance to see if the collar is hurting him. Zoro doesn’t even know if the blonde would even be able to do anything against it if it did, but the only time the collar is really uncomfortable is when Zoro pulls on the chain a little too strong.

For some reason most of the time the two of them are fighting. They can’t seem to be in a room without riling the other up and they tend to challenge the other over every little thing. For some reason though Zoro enjoys it. The scowl on Sanji’s face whenever Zoro is successfully teasing him is honest at least and surprisingly the blonde prince treats him like a necessary evil - at least he likes to say so - but never as something lesser than a human being. He doesn’t make a difference between himself and Zoro, he meets him at eye level, even though Zoro is chained to his bed and probably not much of a threat that way.

It’s easy to forget that Zoro isn’t quite a guest as he is a slave in this castle. At least until the chain keeps him from going anywhere further than three steps away from the bed.

It’s enough to reach the fur that has been spread out there as a second bed.

They both have agreed it would be weird to share the bed, even though there would have been enough space, so Zoro took the fur on the floor. Sanji tried to argue - probably because he does feel guilty about the collar - but Zoro has shrugged it off. He doesn’t mind, he can sleep pretty much everywhere. In contrary to the prince, who is only used to soft beds as the spoiled royal he is, at least that’s what the swordsman has said to tease him, despite knowing better.

Although, when Sanji isn’t there, Zoro is sprawled out on the mattress, making himself comfortable. He does wonder where Sanji is going all of the time, he seems to be a lot busier than Zoro would have guessed. He’s a prince, after all. Zoro would have assumed he is doing nothing but enjoy his royal life. 

On second thought you surely don’t get a body like this by sitting around all day. He probably keeps in shape as much as the swordsman is, training with some of the soldiers or his brothers. 

Additionally, Zoro doesn’t think Sanji is too fond of his title anyway. He doesn’t seem like the type to sit still and indulge in a life filled with pointless entertainment.

But he’s also never gone for too long, contrary to his brothers who leave for weeks, so the blonde is not doing missions for his father and Zoro asks himself why. He’s glad Sanji doesn’t, they would probably not be pleasant tasks, but the blonde would certainly match the fighting power to do so. 

There is also a question that is bothering Zoro for a while now but he didn’t get the chance to ask up until now, too busy fighting with the prince. It also never feels right to bring it up, so he holds it back for the time being.

When Sanji comes back today, Zoro is already dosing off in the bed after some muscle training, even though it can’t be later than noon. He doesn’t wear a shirt and he loosened his bandages, basically rendering them useless since they are hanging off his chest by now.

The prince hits Zoro in the chest with his foot, effectively waking the swordsman. The greenhaired man grunts and curls into himself, rubbing his hurting stomach. 

“Asshole,” he hisses between gritted teeth but the prince looks unimpressed.

“You are supposed to keep the bandages until your back is healed,” Sanji says and Zoro shrugs.

“They are in the way and my back is fine. It’s been weeks.”

Sanji turns to his closet and grabs one of his wider shirts to throw it in Zoro’s direction. “Get dressed.”

Zoro catches the shirt and looks down in confusion, then back up to the prince. “Why?”

“We’re going out,” is all Sanji says before he urges Zoro to hurry. 

It surprises Zoro, he hasn’t left this room in weeks, and now this? But he doesn’t ask. Sanji doesn’t seem too patient to give him a straight answer anyway and Zoro is not going to let this chance slide, so he makes an attempt in throwing the shirt over his head.

Until he realizes there is still a chain and it’s now laying uncomfortably under the fabric. It also reminds him why he hasn’t left the room in a while.

“Curly, I don’t think I-” the greenhaired starts, but Sanji steps up to him and disconnects the chain from the collar. There is a key for it, as Zoro has guessed, but the collar is still on. 

Still, it’s freeing not to have the weight of the chain constantly pulling on his neck.

“I have permission to take you out for today,” Sanji explains and the key vanishes inside his coat. “You will not be able to leave my side for more than a few feet, though.”

“The collar,” Zoro assumes and the prince nods. The magic will keep him bound to Sanji, now that the chain is gone. Zoro has guessed as much. Officially he is Sanji’s personal slave now, which means he actually belongs to the blonde. The collar is probably blood-bound, bound to _Sanji’s_ blood, so it will only leave Zoro’s neck after one of them dies. Until then Zoro has to obey every order and is not allowed to leave Sanji’s side, except the blonde tells him so. 

After releasing Zoro from the chain, he turns back to his table and opens a drawer. While the swordsman is adjusting his shirt, the prince takes out a small box and opens it with care. Inside are two golden, metal bracelets and he lifts them just as cautiously before clipping them around his wrists.

Zoro watches all that with curiosity, but he doesn’t ask. If the prince wants to put on some fancy jewelry before they leave Zoro isn’t stopping him. They obviously mean something to Sanji, but Zoro doesn’t want to pry.

When the prince is finished he turns around to Zoro and lifts one of his curly eyebrows that isn’t hidden behind strands of golden hair. “Are you waiting for an invitation, Marimo?”

The swordsman scoffs and gets up from the bed. “Waiting for you, idiot,” he mutters and strides to the door, but the blonde stops him.

“Follow me,” he says. It’s not an order more than it is a warning. He’s right, outside his room it’s different. Sanji is a prince and Zoro his slave. “Don’t talk,” the prince adds and Zoro frowns deeply. He doesn’t like it, but he doesn’t complain either. He knows it has to be this way to not endanger them both. He usually doesn’t have a lot to say either, except when it comes to the prissy prince, but even then it usually doesn’t take a lot of words to get a rise out of the blonde. It’s kind of amusing to watch. At least until he gets on Zoro’s nerves just as quickly.

Sanji leaves his room first and Zoro follows him quietly. He didn’t even think to ask where they are going, because ‘out’ can mean a lot of things. He trusts the prince - the blonde doesn’t want to harm him, that much is obvious by now -, but he is still a little restless not knowing what he should be prepared for. On the other hand, he is really enjoying just stretching his legs right now.

Of course, they can’t manage to leave the castle without running into one of Sanji’s brothers first. It’s Niji and Zoro thinks that might be lucky. He doesn’t like this measuring look of the redheaded brother like he’s seeing directly through Sanji’s facade, and Yonji has it out for Zoro.

Niji looks surprised but not suspicious and there is no wicked grin, promising pain. He just frowns at them and crosses his arms over his chest.

“Is he supposed to leave his room?” Niji asks and maybe Zoro has to re-evaluate his former assessment. While Zoro is getting slightly tense, Sanji actually looks rather annoyed and rolls his eyes.

“It’s my slave, isn’t it? He’s leaving the room when I want him to, besides... it’s getting boring to have him only in my bed.” Niji seems to realize the indications of what Sanji says, the way his eyes grow a little wider. But he doesn’t say anything and it’s not apparent if he is as repulsed as his brother Ichiji was. 

He just shrugs and lets it slide. “You’re the one who wants to keep him. I never understood your taste. Didn’t think you would like brutes, but I guess you’re always up for a surprise, little failure.” He is especially smug when his words draw a snarl out of Sanji and the blonde suddenly leaps forward, grabbing the collar of his brother’s shirt.

“Don’t call me that ever again,” he growls and even Zoro can feel the barely suppressed fury radiating from the prince. He has no idea how Niji can stay so calm as if he isn’t aware of the sudden killing intent hanging heavily in the air.

He does however raise his arms in surrender even though he looks close to snickering. “Sorry, sorry. Old habit.”

Sanji lets go of him, even though he looks like he’d rather kick his head in, but Zoro supposes that is not an option. Yet.

“It’s my business,” Sanji hisses and again Niji only shrugs.

“Have fun,” he says without real feeling behind his words, then he brushes past Sanji. Zoro has to back away when Niji almost runs into him, and the swordsman winces at the sudden pain the movement causes. Stupid Curlybrow, the kick from earlier really hurts…!

For some reason, Niji now looks at Zoro with a raised eyebrow and a slightly suggestive smirk that Zoro can’t really place. It’s weird because, during this entire conversation, Niji didn’t pay attention to him once. It’s like Zoro missed the message Niji’s look is sending.

The blue-haired brother vanishes around the corner before he can rack his brain over it further, and Zoro’s gaze returns to Sanji. The blonde isn’t moving yet, obviously trying to recollect himself. He breathes deep and controlled.

“What was that about?” Zoro asks, only when he feels like Sanji calmed down enough to answer his question. But apparently, it hasn’t been enough time, because the prince only grumbles: “Shut up and walk,” then he is heading out already. 

Zoro has to hurry to catch up with the blonde’s pace and he grimaces. What’s gotten his panties in a twist all of a sudden?

But Zoro also can’t shake this uneasy feeling like he witnessed something he wasn’t supposed to. Either way, Zoro has no idea what it means yet.

A carriage is already waiting for them and usually, Zoro would probably ride next to the coachman, but instead, Sanji is signaling him to get into the carriage, so he complies. He sits down at the opposite side of Sanji when the coachman closes the door and soon they start to move.

Suddenly Zoro is aware of how strange the whole situation is. Sanji is taking him out, they are already leaving the castle behind and Zoro still has no idea where they are going and what the prince is planning. It would probably be futile to speculate, but Zoro still can’t help but wonder.

It can’t be another plan to escape. Sanji is very obviously not leaving, neither is Zoro as long as the prince continues to be stubborn, which is exactly their previous dilemma. Additionally, Sanji already admitted that he isn’t able to break the magic on the necklace that easily.

Sanji doesn’t look at him and Zoro can’t say if he is purposely avoiding eye contact. It’s definitely not the first time these past days that they share a space in silence, but this seems to stretch and lie heavily on both of them.

Zoro is still deep in thought himself, but then his eyes suddenly grow wide when he realizes why Niji smirked after Zoro flinched in pain. The brother’s grin has almost been outright _lewd_ , but Zoro didn’t see it at first.

“This bastard!” he curses out loud, startling the prince, but Zoro doesn’t really notice, too occupied with his revelation.

Why do the Vinsmokes all assume…? He’s not a damn toy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! ♥ If you liked the chapter and want to encourage me, you're very welcome to leave a comment 🥰
> 
> Follow my [ Insta profile](https://www.instagram.com/shiggy20002/) for more information about future updates, new projects, and more! You can additionally or alternatively take a look at my other profiles like Twitter on my [ Linktr.ee](https://linktr.ee/Shiggy20002) as well!


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zoro and Sanji go for a shopping trip and Zoro discovers that there is more to the prince than just royalty and kindness.

Zoro doesn’t tell the prince about his revelation. He only continues to sulk, while cursing Sanji’s brothers for assuming the greenhaired man would let himself be forced into bed by anyone. But he supposes it’s also Sanji’s fault for instigating these assumptions.

Sanji stops asking when he realizes Zoro is not going to answer his questions. He’d rather keep these things to himself, there is no need to discuss the excuse Sanji uses to let Zoro stay in his room all day, chained to the bed. It’s for his own safety, Zoro knows that, but that stupid smirk on the blue-haired’s face doesn’t leave his mind and it agitates him.

“Where are we going anyway?” Zoro speaks freely now. They left the castle, so there is no reason to keep up a charade. The only one nearby is the coachman, but he’s not within earshot anyway. The wheels on the uneven road and the clatter of the hooves are creating enough noise to drown out anything they say.

“To the market,” Sanji replies and he looks at Zoro out of the corner of his eyes. His head is turned towards the window, he’s been looking at the town for most of the ride now. “We should be there shortly.”

“And why?” The swordsman frowns. He can’t imagine Sanji’s got permission to take Zoro with him on a simple shopping trip. Zoro might be the blonde’s slave for now, but it’s still Judge pulling the strings. Curse him.

“Because I want to gather some things.” Zoro rolls his eyes at that very specific answer and Sanji’s lips pull into a small smile. “Relax, Mosshead. I want to buy something to make it more comfortable for you. Since you won’t be leaving my room much for now.”

Zoro blinks in surprise. “Huh…” He hasn’t expected that. It’s not the most comfortable, mainly because of the narrow space to move around, but he doesn’t think Sanji can help much with that. Other than this, he isn’t thinking much about comfort. He doesn’t need much to be satisfied.

“I also need to pick something up for a friend,” Sanji continues and Zoro scoffs involuntarily, so the blonde’s head whips back to him. “What?” he asks with a biting tone.

“Just thought you wouldn’t be allowed to have friends or something,” Zoro answers truthfully and shrugs. “It’s a surprise.”

He doesn’t miss the pained expression running over the blonde’s face, but it’s gone just as quickly. Still, his voice is bitter when Sanji replies: “I don’t have many, due to my circumstances, but it’s not like I am not allowed any human contact at all...”

Zoro is aware of what Sanji doesn’t dare to say out loud. It’s different from when he was a child. He’s not behind bars anymore. Not visible ones for that matter.

The swordsman is brooding over that thought for a while, it bothers him that the blonde is still trapped there and Zoro doesn’t know how if not by chains or bars, and Sanji lets him since he has nothing more to add to the conversation. He turns his head back to the window and lets out a quiet sigh.

It doesn’t take them much longer until the carriage comes to a halt. They have arrived at the town’s market and Sanji doesn’t wait for the coachman to open the door this time. Zoro follows him outside and takes a deep breath. It’s good to be outside and among people again. Outside of the castle. When his gaze falls back to the prince, he sees similar emotions flicker in his eyes.

“You don’t get out much either, do you?” Zoro asks bluntly and the other turns to him in surprise. He watches Zoro for a moment as if to figure out what’s going on in that ‘mossy brain of his’ - as Sanji would probably say - but then he shakes his head.

“It’s-... I can’t leave the castle that often, for multiple reasons. My brothers might wonder where I am going and I don’t want them to know the people I am close with.”

Zoro nods. He understands it. Judge might not care if Sanji befriends someone, but if he knows about it, there is always a risk he’s going to take advantage of that someday. The same goes for Sanji’s brothers probably.

“Why else?”

When Sanji stares at him in confusion, Zoro rolls his eyes provocatively but before the blonde can kick him, he clarifies: “You said there are multiple reasons. What are the others?”

Now it’s Sanji rolling his eyes. He hits Zoro in the side with his elbow, catching him unprepared and making him wheeze, then he starts walking. “Nevermind that, we have something to do. So don’t just stand there,” he teases and Zoro grumbles, but follows him again, rubbing over his ribs. The prince really likes to irritate him, and he evades most of Zoro’s questions whenever it concerns the reason why Sanji is still living in that castle. He does  _ not  _ want Zoro to know and it frustrates the swordsman. If he knew, maybe he could do something against it!

But he’s forced to walk next to Sanji in silence once again. Although Sanji isn’t quiet for long. The merchandise soon catches his attention and he drags Zoro over to a vendor selling different kinds of vegetables.

Zoro has no idea how the blonde takes that much interest in food, but he must be looking for something apparently. Zoro doesn’t question it, the prince probably knows what he is doing, but the greenhaired does notice the salesman staring at Sanji. He is visibly uneasy and struggles for words.

“P-prince, I- What can I-... Is there something I can do for you, Your Highness?” Sanji only waves him off, surprisingly preoccupied with the vegetables still, to pay attention to the man’s distress.

“I am just trying to find- Ah! Some of these please,” the prince suddenly says, pointing towards a long green vegetable with white root and split ends, that Zoro doesn’t recognize. It’s not surprising. He usually doesn’t cook for himself and if he does, all he eats is meat and potatoes. 

The vendor doesn’t know how to act around the prince, that much is obvious. The fact that Sanji behaves like any other customer, being friendly and talking to the man eye to eye, is probably not helping either, because the poor guy is only more confused.

Maybe he would believe it to be a mix-up - the princes certainly don’t behave like this ever, everyone knows that, and they wouldn’t buy his vegetables at the market, that’s for sure - but the curled eyebrow doesn’t leave room for a misunderstanding.

Zoro watches the exchange with barely hidden amusement as Sanji pays the man a little bit more than he asks for and takes the basket with the vegetables he bought off the man’s hands.

They continue down the road, the prince unfazed by the encounter, while Zoro watches him, clearly curious. Still, he’s waiting to see what the prince is going for next.

They stop at a fair amount of stalls selling food, Sanji does the talking while the swordsman is just standing next to him, watching him with interest. The prince either doesn’t seem to notice or he simply doesn’t care, either way, he is not stopping to even look at Zoro.

Zoro assumes he doesn’t notice though. Sanji seems to be in his own world, his demeanor changed completely. Zoro has never seen the cook this way, even though he thought he had gotten to know the prince better than anyone else behind that mask of his.

But this is something completely different. It’s like he let go of all the pressure and all his pretenses. Instead, something of childlike excitement and glee has taken over Sanji while he is dragging Zoro from one vendor to the other.

Zoro notices the prince doesn’t stop smiling and excitedly pointing to different types of food. The greenhaired man isn’t listening to the things he says, mostly because he can’t tear his eyes away from the way Sanji is  _ beaming _ . He’s never seen Sanji this happy inside the castle and it distracts Zoro enough that he’s almost running into a young woman.

“Woah, hey there!” Sanji grabs his arm and pulls him out of the way and Zoro wonders since when is the blonde’s touch this warm?

He barely registers the prince apologizing to the girl on his behalf. He’s staring at Sanji’s hand instead since he’s still holding Zoro’s biceps.

He only snaps out of it, once the warm feeling on his arm vanishes, and instead, he can feel something hit the back of his head.

“Idiot, I’m talking to you!” Sanji scolds the swordsman. “I said: ‘Apologize to the lady’, Mosshead!”

“ ‘m sorry..” the greenhaired mutters and she waves him off quickly, her smile a little bit forced. It’s clear the situation is very uncomfortable for her and she is quick to return to her shopping trip as soon as it doesn’t feel rude to leave.

“You’re an ill-mannered brute,” Sanji nags and starts walking again, while Zoro is trailing behind. The swordsman scoffs.

“And you’re a pervert.”

“HAAH?!” That seems to rile him up and the corner of Zoro’s lips pull up into a smug grin.

“A pervert, who keeps ogling every woman that walks past us.” It’s a little extreme since Sanji did nothing improper while they were passing by some women, but Zoro could not miss the way Sanji swooned over them like a love-sick idiot, declaring women the most beautiful and graceful beings on this earth. It was utterly ridiculous.

He did not however stare or try hitting on them in some way, he only complimented them and bid them farewell soon after. Still, what’s up with the blonde and women? Especially after what has happened a few days back… He has been flirting with Zoro while they’ve been fighting, hasn’t he?

“Take that back!” Sanji shouts, clearly insulted. “I would never!”

“Sure…” Zoro doesn’t sound convinced, but he takes it as a win since Sanji is fuming. On the other hand, he probably won’t run out of things to tease him with. The prince is surprisingly thin-skinned and hot-blooded, and Zoro takes full advantage of that for his own entertainment. It’s not like he has much to do these days.

Sanji looks ready to kick his head in, but before he gets the chance, Zoro changes topic and asks: “What’s with all the food, Curly?” He nods to the basket, it’s filled with all sorts of ingredients now, but nothing Zoro would actually consider edible. What does the prince want with herbs? He’s not a doctor.

Sanji looks down to the basket and suddenly his earnest grin is back and it’s almost blinding the swordsman. “I am going to cook for you.”

Zoro stares at him and blinks. Twice. “What?” he says dumbfounded. This declaration is just so bizarre, Zoro has no idea what to say. The prince and cooking? Zoro tries to imagine it and he has to bite back a laugh.

Sanji doesn’t miss that and a scowl returns to his face. “Shithead! What are you laughing about?!” He kicks Zoro’s leg and the swordsman winces, but it doesn’t stifle his amusement.

“Since when do you cook?”

“You don’t know me that well,” Sanji answers, and the sour tone effectively shuts him up. He’s all in for teasing the blonde, but he doesn’t want to hurt him.

“Do you have everything you need?” Zoro asks now, obviously trying to stir the conversation into another, less tense direction. Sanji’s shoulders drop a little and he nods, accepting the unspoken apology.

“Yes, I think so. Everything else will be at Conis’ house.”

“One of your friends?” Zoro raises an eyebrow, not teasingly, only curious.

Again Sanji nods and he smiles a little. “She’s a sweet girl. Her father runs a little Inn, not far from here.”

“So that’s where we’re headed?”

“As long as you don’t keep  _ turning around _ !” Sanji complains as he grabs Zoro by the arm again as the swordsman indeed takes a turn.

“Huh? Isn’t it this way?” he says, secretly grateful this time the touch doesn’t seem to affect him as it did before. It probably was just a trick of his mind.

“No, you directionless moss,” Sanji insults him and drags him off. Zoro scowls. “Honestly, you get lost on a straight path, don’t you?”

“I don’t!” Zoro claims, despite his better knowledge. “The path keeps changing…”

“Of course…” Sanji huffs, but thankfully the Inn isn’t that far, so he doesn’t have to put up with this much longer.

When they step in, they are met with a warm and cozy atmosphere. The tables are mostly empty during this time of day, but there is still a fire lit at the fireplace and behind the bar a young girl with light blond hair. She looks up and when she sees the prince, she starts smiling brightly. “Sanji-kun!”

“Good afternoon, Conis-chan~” Sanji returns her smile and gives her a polite nod. “How are you doing? How is your father?”

“We’re fine,” Conis responds and signals them to sit down at the bar while she is working on preparing drinks. Zoro arches a brow and a grin is making his way on his lips as he follows Sanji to the seats. Maybe that’s not a bad place to be if it promises booze. 

“He’s doing better. The recipe you showed me really helped him!” Conis looks at Sanji, almost radiating gratitude. “Thank you so much!”

“I’m just glad I could help,” Sanji says and waves it off. “I don’t wish for your father to be sick much longer and I am glad it wasn’t something more serious.”

“Yes, me too.” Conis nods and fills up two mugs with some beverage. Zoro is definitely not staring. “Still, without your help, I don’t know what I would have done. He was getting very weak…” She shakes her head as if to shake off those dark thoughts, instead, she is raising the mugs and puts them down in front of Zoro and Sanji. “It’s on the house.”

Zoro would never dream of turning down free alcohol, so he takes the mug and takes a big swing. “Ahhh… I really missed some good booze,” he says without realizing it and wipes his mouth grinning.

Sanji looks outright disgusted. “You’re an animal,” he says but Zoro doesn’t bite this time and only shrugs.

“Sanji!” Conis looks at the prince a little bit shocked and she raises her hand to her mouth. Both men look confused as to her reaction, but Sanji catches on sooner.

He’s quick in trying to explain himself: “Ah, Conis-chan, I never meant it to be insulting! I mean, yes, I did, but not the way you’re thinking!”

Zoro still frowns until he realizes Conis is probably concerned about Sanji calling his slave an animal. The collar is still very much visible for everyone and it gives a pretty clear statement of his situation.

The swordsman snorts. “Curly is just fussy.”

“I am wHAT?!” He raises his voice to something that can only be described as screeching and Zoro purposely leans away and sticks his little finger in his ear, only to rile the blonde up more.

Conis stares at them clearly surprised, but then she can barely contain her chuckle and the tension leaves her shoulders. Zoro is relieved because he wasn’t 100% sure if she could be trusted, or if Zoro should have kept up their cover, but it seems like Sanji trusts her to keep it a secret. He did say Conis is a friend.

“You have absolutely no manners, Marimo,” Sanji huffs and slips from his seat now. A moment later their bickering is forgotten when he turns to the girl and raises the basket still in his hands. “Conis-chan, I would like to ask to use your kitchen.” 

“Of course, feel free!”, she assures him and waves off to the door at the back of the bar. Zoro watches as Sanji makes his way over and vanishes behind the door, then he takes the second mug. His own is already empty.

He can feel the collar pulling, but it’s not painful yet, only a warning. He’s not supposed to leave Sanji’s side after all, but he ignores it in favor of drinking his booze in peace. Conis watches him with barely hidden curiosity, but she doesn’t ask. Zoro is thankful for it because he doesn’t want to have this conversation with a stranger, even though he has to admit Conis seems like a good person.

The prince cooking. Zoro’s gaze wanders back to the door Sanji’s vanished through. That’s gonna be interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! ♥ If you liked the chapter and want to encourage me, you're very welcome to leave a comment 🥰
> 
> Follow my [ Insta profile](https://www.instagram.com/shiggy20002/) for more information about future updates, new projects, and more! You can additionally or alternatively take a look at my other profiles like Twitter on my [ Linktr.ee](https://linktr.ee/Shiggy20002) as well!


End file.
